Altered Reality
by Converse r life
Summary: As the world around them spins in numerous directions, Eric and Ariel must find a way to live, love, and learn. However, happily ever after is not always so easily achieved. RE-EDITED VERSION.
1. Chapter 1: Where Our Differences Lie

**_Hey guys, long time no see :) This is just a quick note to say that no, this story is NOT on hiatus, I've just been really busy going back and editing it. The general concept is the same, but the chapters may be different. Hopefully you'll like it! :) _**

**_- Converse r life_**

* * *

"Ariel."

It was one word from Attina's lips, a fin-jerk reaction, as she saw her baby sister stop at the doorway of the entrance hall, King Triton right behind her.

The merprincess looked her sister up and down for a few seconds, her mind reeling. Ariel looked…stunned. Shocked. Scared even. Everyone stood motionless in the grand entrance hall, staring at each other silently, before a single sob broke the dam.

"_Ariel_!" Arista's voice finally cut through the silence, her sobs nearly echoing in the room. She nearly crashed into the youngest princess because of the speed she'd been swimming at.

"Ariel!"

The name of their youngest sister spilled from all the merprincesses lips before they could stop it. They all swam towards their baby sister, all managing to hug her at the same time.

Andrina's bottom lip quivered while she grasped her youngest sister's hand. Arista was sobbing as she rested her head on Ariel's shoulder, while Aquata's own shoulders shook with the effort to hold back her own sobs of pure relief. Adella had her mouth open to speak, but nothing came out as she couldn't find the right words to explain this moment. Alana's eyes were red rimmed as she let her from her hand rest on Ariel's other shoulder. It was Attina, however, who had the best spot out all of them, because she had thrown her arms around her baby sister in a tight hug.

"Attina."

It was Triton's soft command that made his eldest look up automatically. Her green eyes roamed those of her father's, wondering what he had to say.

Triton looked tired, the young woman noted. He seemed happy that his daughter was safe, relieved even, but he looked…exhausted, and…and something else that she couldn't quite place.

"Yes, Father?"

Attina felt herself questioning her king, feeling so small compared to him. But she wouldn't let that show. She was the oldest, the heir to throne. She held it all together, even when she had a mixed emotions roiled up inside of her.

"Make sure your sisters get to sleep." Triton's answered quietly, making his oldest nod obediently. She would have done it even if her father hadn't told her too.

"It's late. I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight, Father." Attina whispered.

The rest of her sisters, upon hearing Attina's goodnight, quickly said their own to their father, but at no time did their eyes stray from the teenager they were all crowded around. They all waited for her to do the same as them, but as the seconds ticked by, it became increasingly uneasy.

At no point did Ariel utter a word.

"Goodnight, Ariel." Triton added in a gentle, kind, maybe even soothing voice to his youngest daughter.

Ariel's eyes flickered up to him, blinking once as if not understanding his words. Then her eyes flickered downwards at her fins once again, almost as if she was too ashamed at herself to look up to her father.

"Goodnight." Ariel mumbled inaudibly.

For a moment, all King Triton could do was just look at her, pity mixed with relief, mixed with woe and even a hint of anger in his expression, before it all melted away, and he shook his head.

"I'll see you all in the morning." Triton finally said, though his line of sight was directed towards his youngest, who was surrounded in a protective circle by her sisters. With a sigh, he swam off to his chambers to sleep a little.

It was silent for a moment, with Triton gone, and the merprincesses giving each other looks of concern over Ariel's head. The youngest princess still had her head down, not looking at anyone.

"Oh, Ariel." Attina whispered, breaking the silence as she hugged her sister tightly against her, never wanting to let go.

Three days. That was the last time she saw that head of bright hair swim easily through the palace, singing to herself and dancing like a carefree child. Who knew three days could be so long?

It occurred to the oldest merprincess that her youngest sister wasn't hugging her back. Ariel's arms hung limply by her sides, her eyes focused on the ground. But Ariel was a fool if she thought she could convince her oldest sister that nothing was wrong by just looking at the ground.

She was struggling not to cry, Attina realized, and felt an almost stabbing pain of guilt reach her heart. She should have known Ariel wasn't holding up all too well. Goodness only knew what she'd been through in the past three days.

"Girls, it's late. Let's at least go to a room so we don't wake anyone." Attina's voice finally said aloud, firmness in her tone that was not to be messed with.

As the oldest, she was always in charge. By now, her younger sisters simply obeyed her words, so used to it after such a long time. No one even bothered questioning what room Attina was talking about; they all knew that tonight, they'd congregate in their baby sister's room.

Slowly, sniffles and nods went around as the five sisters let go of their baby sister. Ariel was still a statue, staring down at her fins and trying hard to keep it all together.

"Ariel?" Adella asked softly, taking her sister's other hand in hers and looking at the girl with worry. Ariel did nothing but breathe raggedy and stare down at the floor.

That alone filled her sisters with concern. What had happened to the hyper young teenager they were so used to? Where had their baby sister been—or rather, _seen_, that was troubling her? Surely she couldn't have changed this much in three days. This had to be some type of joke, a prank, _something_ other than what was really happening.

"Are you…alright?" Aquata's brave voice asked the question all six mermaids were wondering and worrying about.

Ariel said nothing; she didn't even nod or shake her head to signify how she felt. The five younger princesses exchanged wide-eyed looks to one another, unsure of what was happening, but knowing that their gut instincts told them that it was very wrong. One by one, their questioning eyes fell to Attina, each of them seeming to ask the same silent question: What do I do?

Attina took in a deep, calming breath. "Let's go to Ariel's room."

Releasing her baby sister from the tight hug she'd enveloped the girl in, Attina started to panic inwardly when she no longer felt herself connected to the teenager. So the oldest merprincess grasped the girl's forearm tightly with one hand, making sure she had a good hold on her. Immediately, her system calmed.

With lingering looks back towards the youngest in the bunch, each of the other girls slowly lead the way back to the youngest princess' room. No one spoke; instead, the only forms of communication between the young women were looks that had more volume to them than novels could ever hold.

Attina lagged behind the group, struggling to swim both her and Ariel along. Her sister, however, wasn't making this job easy for her at all. In a way though, Attina thanked Neptune that the other girls didn't see this. She wasn't sure they would be able to hold themselves together watching Ariel in this state. It was almost like the teen had no will left in her to swim, or smile, or…or do anything really.

When they finally entered the corridor where Ariel's room was located, Attina felt her sister suddenly stiffen, making the oldest merprincess feel as though she was dragging a ton of rocks. Before she could say this aloud though, Ariel ripped herself out of her oldest sister's grasp and swam faster than Attina had ever seen her go through the shell door of her room.

For a second, all six princesses stared at each other in disbelief and shock, before they were spurred into action. They bumped one another as they tried to get through the doorway all at once, and there _were_ a few hisses of pain in the process when someone was accidentally knocked to the floor.

"Ow! Alana, that _hurt_!" Andrina's nasal voice complained while she struggled to get off of the ground.

"Don't get in my way next time." Alana's voice hissed back quietly, her tone sharp.

"I'll show _you_ what will happen next—" Andrina was cut off by a reprimanding look from Attina. A look that the princess knew very well meant that it was time to stay quiet.

"She's hysterical." Adella's voice came out, forcing all of her sisters to follow her jutted chin the direction of Ariel.

Each one of them sucked in a breath, suddenly realizing that in their haste to get into Ariel's room, they had forgotten about the reason they were rushing here in the first place. Unknowing and unnerved by the past three days, every head turned to look at Attina, waiting for their marching orders to be issued.

However, Attina didn't know _what_ to say.

She knew nothing more than her sisters did. And…truth be told…she was scared. But wanting to show her younger sisters that everything would be alright, she gathered up her courage.

Then she let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding in, before she swam to the girl's bed, where Ariel had collapsed in a fit of sobs.

Slowly, her sisters followed her lead. There were soft gasps of pain here and there as someone's elbow found another's side, but within moments the young women had made themselves comfortable.

The pecking order went as follows: Attina was sitting by the head of the bed by Ariel's right, Alana leaning back against one of the four posters the bed had on the opposite side, Arista was spread out length wise on the same side as her older sister, with Adella and Andrina squeezed together in the left corner at the tailend (fighting for the chance to rest one of their backs on one of the four posters the bed held), and Aquata had her tail pulled up to her chin in the right corner of the tailend of the bed.

Each of their pretty features were twisted with worry for their youngest sister. That coupled with the stress of the past days made each one of them seem much, much older than they truly were.

"Shh Ariel. It's alright…it's alright." Attina voice finally cut through the thick silence.

She was trying to be as soothing as possible, because she frankly hadn't a clue as to what else she could do. She sighed heavily as she watched Ariel's shoulders shake back and forth, her sobs muffled by the pillow she had buried her face in.

"Ohmygosh, look!" Aquata's voice suddenly cried out, horror filling every crevice of it "Something burned her back! Bad."

Wide-eyed, the other merprincesses looked at their sister's back, surprised to see that Aquata was indeed correct. There was a large red burn on Ariel's back. But there was something oddly familiar about it…

"That's the same type of burn scars Momma had on her hands!" Adella gasped, immediately looking at her two oldest sisters with an urging expression, as though willing them to remember.

"Oh!" Was all Alana managed to say, realization suddenly dawning on her.

Attina felt her face go pale as she too figured out where she'd seen such a burn before, and how the one on her baby sister's back must have happened.

"You know, none of us can read minds." Andrina grumbled, looking at both Arista and Aquata for support on this issue.

Both girls looked to each other, before shrugging, their gazes falling back on the burn on Ariel's back in consternation. The frown that had set on Arista's features, and the slight hurt in Aquata's eyes said it all: they wished they understood, so that they could be included in this too.

Attina gave a soft sigh.

Really only she, Alana, and Adella could remember their mother.

From Aquata down, the memory of the woman who had given them life were fragments of happy times, hazy memories of being tucked into bed, a voice warning for them not to stray, and then only what an imagination had been able to fill in through stories.

Though the four youngest princesses never said anything about it, Attina knew that they wished they didn't always have to be the odd girls out when something concerned their mother.

"Remember the story of when I was born?"

The three younger sisters nodded their heads, ignoring the soft sobs of their other sister for a moment as they focused on Attina.

"What does that have to do with the burn scars Momma had on her hands? Or the one on Ariel's back? This is all so confusing!" Arista's voice cried out, her eyes already starting to water with tears.

Attina held back her sigh this time. Arista was always the first one to resort to tears. The Crown Princess would really have to dumb down her explanation so that her sisters could actually understand it.

"Remember how Ursula usurped the throne and locked Father in the palace dungeons? And how the people of Atlantica decided to overthrow her, and the only way for them to win was for Momma to somehow seize the trident from its stand and get it to Dad? And even though she managed to get the trident out of its stand because she was pregnant with a child of royal Atlantican blood, her hands were still burned, due to the fact that she herself did not have royal blood?"

Aquata let her brows knit together in deeper confusion. "I'm not following, Attina."

"Think, Aquata." Adella answered, her tone urging. "Ariel has the same type of burn Momma had, and Momma got that burn from the trident."

"Are you saying that…" Andrina cut herself off, unable to finish that unimaginable thought.

"Someone burned her with the trident." Arista found herself saying, her ice blue eyes wide and hurt as she looked up at her sisters.

Each one of them looked away, the lump in their throats too thick for them to think of any other type of explanation. The only person (that they knew of) capable of handling the trident was their father. Surely he wouldn't have…hurt Ariel, just to bring her back. No, there had to be some sort of mistake here.

Ariel, who still had her head buried into her thick pillow, clutched at the fabric and kept sobbing, as though she hadn't even heard a word. This would make sense, considering her sobs were loud enough to drown out everything her sisters had said.

"Shh, it's alright, Ariel. You're alright now."

Attina's motherly voice again broke through the silence, trying to at least keep her youngest sister from going back to full blown hysterics.

She swallowed deeply, trying hard to resist the urge to press her baby sister to her in a deep hug and pretend that she wasn't hurting, that this was all a dream. Instead, she gently allowed her fingers to shift through the teen's mass of red hair, trying to stroke it, but only finding knots to be getting in the way.

"I've got burn cream." Alana finally offered, her voice quiet as she spoke to her older sister. Attina looked up, blinking as though she was startled at the sudden words.

"Why do you have…?" Adella's voice died out as she watched Alana simply raise an eyebrow at her. She sighed. "Right. Forget I asked."

"Go get it, Alana." Attina said, her fingers methodically trying to break through a bad knot. "At this point, I'm up for anything that would help her."

Alana nodded once in confirmation. "I'll be back in a second."

From her peripheral vision, Attina could see her sister quickly lift herself off of Ariel's bed. Still trying to untangle the unruly knots in Ariel's hair, the eldest merprincess was suddenly struck with an idea on how to assuage her sister's tears. It was the simplest thing.

"Alana, grab Ariel's brush while you're up. Please." Attina requested, in a voice that was tight with worry.

Alana, halfway across the room at this point, froze. The four other girls who currently had their wits about them did the same, all of their eyes turning towards a now softly humming Attina.

If one knew their oldest sister like they did, they would realize that for her to say 'please' meant a great deal. Not that Attina wasn't polite in front of company; it was just that, like any older sibling, she felt that being polite to her younger sisters was a gift they did not deserve. So for her to actually say such a word to them, in such a soft manner, without a twitch of an eye was almost…scary, in a way.

They knew she meant business.

"I'm on it." Alana answered back, swallowing due to her parched throat, but finding her mouth was just as dry as before.

As quickly as possible, the young woman swam out of her baby's sister's room, not stopping for even a moment. Thankfully, she'd moved her burn cream to her own room last week and hadn't had the chance to put it back with all her other things in the giant vanity room she shared with her sisters.

She easily swam through her own room and without a second thought, the merprincess grabbed the cream from its place on the side of her bed. Then she rushed back to Ariel's room, nearly pushing the shell door out of her way because she was in such a hurry to help.

Everyone's head, save Attina and Ariel's, lifted up when they heard her come in, but just as quickly the girls turned their attention back to their youngest sister. With a silent sigh as she could still hear the sobs from Ariel, Alana scanned the room with her eyes before spotting Ariel's hairbrush.

It hadn't been touched since she left three days prior, and as such it was still in its slightly skewed position on her small vanity, as though Ariel had just dropped it in a rush and expected to be back within a moment.

While most of the girls' things had long been moved to their bigger, nicer vanities that took up the entire room of the old conservatory, the bare essentials were still kept in their room. It was for comfort, in a sort of odd way none of them could understand.

Shaking those thoughts off, Alana grabbed the hairbrush that belonged to her youngest sister and headed back to Ariel's bed.

"Hold this." Alana ordered, handing the cream off to Arista as she sat back down and placed the brush beside her. From this spot, she had a good angle of Ariel's trident burn.

"Is it supposed to smell funny?" Arista wondered, having already undone the top of the container and sniffing at it with an odd expression.

Alana snatched the cream back from her hands, noticing the way the teenager was tilting it at such an angle that everything inside of it would spill out soon if she didn't take control.

"It's medicinal, not commercial, Arista. It can smell like the stables as long as it works." Aquata answered, rolling her eyes in the way that only older siblings could.

Arista stuck her tongue out at her sister, clearly trying to indicate that she didn't like being treated like a child. Aquata returned the gesture with a roll of her eyes, as though she was far too old to indulge is such childish nonsense.

Adella suddenly frowned. "It _does_ work, doesn't it, Alana? Like it won't just make her back turn purple, or burn her even more, or—"

"Of course it works!" Alana bristled, gently starting to spread the cream across the large red mark across Ariel's back. "The healer made it for me after _someone_ put fool's weed into my favorite lotion."

Andrina managed a small smile at the memory despite the circumstances at the moment. "I still say that was my finest prank, even if I did get caught."

Alana rolled her eyes. "_Anyway_, it heals the burn quickly. By tomorrow morning she'll probably just have a scar. And then I have a scar cream that can get rid of _that_…"

"One step at a time, Alana. We don't know if she'll still _be_ here by morning time." Adella sighed, tucking a piece of dark hair behind her ear.

Before anyone could get a word in edgewise, Attina's head snapped up like lightning. All five heads turned to look at her in surprise, before each one of them quickly looked away in opposite directions. There was something dark, almost feral in their oldest sister's look that made them feel…scared.

"Do not," Attina's voice warned, low and threatening "even think about that. She _will_ be here tomorrow; this is her home. _Our _home. She belongs here."

Green eyes fierce, the young woman let her words hang in the air, like a giant weight in the room.

"I-I…I belong w-with…Eric."

A hiccupping voice brokenly whispered those words aloud, the owner of said voice clutching tightly to Attina as a fresh wave of sobs overtook her once again.

All six heads of the older merprincesses snapped themselves in the direction of Ariel, before looking up at each other with fish-caught-in-a-net looks.

Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle seemed more confusing then ever.

When their father had destroyed her "collection" of human things (he had relayed the story to them as a sort of desperate attempt to see if they could have figured out where Ariel was by it), he had also destroyed a statue of a human man that Ariel had in her possession at the time.

While that shouldn't be too much of a standalone issue, the way that their father had chosen to gloss over that particular fact, barely mentioning it as he had told the story, suddenly seemed a lot more significant. Plus, hadn't Ariel been acting all lovesick before she'd disappeared?

Was there a link between this "Eric" that Ariel thought she belonged with, and the statue of a human man? Was there a link between _that_ and Ariel's disappearance?

"Sit up, Ariel. You're hysterical." Attina's voice finally broke, though it was a tad bit icier than before.

The Crown Princess knew somewhere, deep in her heart, what Ariel was really saying and what all this had been about. Somehow she'd always known. But that didn't mean that it was any easier a pill to swallow, and it also did not mean that she would be accepting it, at least for right now.

Faux ignorance was always bliss, wasn't it?

"I…I…" Ariel's tearful voice responded, unable to form actual words.

Attina loosened the girl's grip on her orange tail and gently, with the help of her other sisters, lifted the girl into a sitting position. Ariel's head fell forward, her eyes trained on the sheets of her bed. Her sobs were starting to diminish, turning from heart-wrenching cries of pain to soft hiccups.

"Give me her brush, Alana." Attina's voice said aloud, quieter now with the edge less prevalent. But the way her stomach churned said otherwise about her overall mood, though she'd never lose her calm in front of her sisters.

"Here, take it." Alana answered, leaning forward to hand over the hairbrush. She hadn't noticed just how tightly she'd been clutching at it with her left hand.

The second-oldest merprincess spun the top back onto the burn cream, long since finished with applying it to the mark on Ariel's back. It still made her sick to even look at it. So she forced herself to pay attention to what her older sister would do, awaiting whatever orders she may soon have.

"Ariel, you need to _calm down_."

Attina stressed the last two words, her voice soft but worried as she noticed her baby sister's shoulders start to go up and down at a rapid pace again. At this rate she would be more likely to hurt herself further, something that no one would want.

"Take deep breaths!" Arista offered eagerly, leaning forward to grab Ariel's limp hands in her own.

"In practice, Coach says in through your nose, out through your mouth." Aquata said, less eager than her sister, but still using a helpful tone all the same.

"I'm confused. _What_ goes in your nose and comes out of your mouth?" Andrina wondered, her voice forcefully lighthearted.

Usually such a statement would create a playful argument between her and Aquata, but tonight, everyone just gave a rather feeble chuckle at her attempt.

Attina shook her head, tucking a stray piece of auburn hair behind her ear before gathering the mass of red hair that Ariel had. With an ease benefitting years of doing this, the oldest merprincess started to brush through the girl's hair. She hummed an old lullaby aloud, her favorite among the ones her mother used to sing to her in the nursery.

Ariel gave a slight jerk at the way the brush went over a bad knot, but instead of the whine that was usually inevitable coming from her, the teenager simply sniffled. A hiccup left her lips, but nothing more.

At this, everyone sighed.

"Come on, Ariel, talk." Adella started to plead. "You know you can tell us anything." There was desperation in her tone now; this was the point where Adella had long thrown out her boy-craziness and instead replaced it with an overwhelming urge to help her sister.

"This isn't like you, baby sister." Alana whispered, her hand gently cradling her sister's face.

It was an affectionate term they all used around Ariel, calling her their baby sister because, well, she was. She'd always _been_ the baby; she always _would_ be the baby…

…she no longer _wanted_ to be the baby.

That just seemed to throw Ariel off the edge altogether. Suddenly she was ripping her hands out of Arista's, breaking away from Alana's soft touch, and pushing away Attina and that dratted brush.

And just as the shock was still setting in for her older sisters, Ariel lifted her head for the first time all night, her bottom lip quivering as she spoke.

"I-I'm not…I'm not a baby!"

Her voice may have been nothing more than a broken whisper, but the way she said those words, so vehemently opposed to her sisters belief caught everyone's attention.

All six of the older merprincesses looked around, their gazes wide-eyed with surprise. Even Andrina's mouth hung low, her eyes nearly bulging in astonishment. Ariel had never had a problem with being the baby of the family. Never.

"Of course you're not a baby, Ariel." Alana recovered first, using her most soothing voice. "But, I mean, you're only sixteen. You're still technically a child…"

Only because she was over twenty years of age could Alana say this and firmly believe in it too. Of course, she remembered being Ariel's age and thinking that she was all grown up, but now, five years later, she could wholeheartedly dismiss Ariel's feelings as normal teenage angst.

"E-Eric doesn't think so."

Ariel's broken voice again whispered, her blue eyes haunted but still holding Alana's violet ones in an intense stare. And then, the younger merprincess broke off this staredown, her head falling down once again as a soft whimper left her.

"I mean…h-he didn't think so."

"Wait, Ariel, who's Eric?" Andrina finally asked, pushing her now crowding sisters away from her youngest sister so that she could squeeze in. "What _happened_?"

And not for the first time in her life, Ariel looked up and saw the faces of each of her sisters surrounding her.

Attina's expression looked guarded, as though she knew something that she wouldn't say aloud. Both Alana and Adella looked worried, although Adella slightly more so, while Alana was leaning more towards the wary side. Aquata and Arista kept exchanging glances, their faces crumpled in confusion. Only Andrina looked curious out of all of them, her green eyes shining with that glow she always got when there was a mystery around.

Ariel almost felt sick to her stomach.

How could she explain to her six wonderful sisters how she could have killed them because of her stupid idea of trusting the sea witch?

How could she tell these girls, the ones who had been her playmates, her best friends, her confiders, that the kingdom that had made them princesses could have been demolished this night?

How could she explain to them that their father traded his life for hers, an exchange that would have only allowed her to live an hour more had Eric not destroyed the sea witch?

How could she tell Attina, her stand in mother, the person who had held her hand and lead her to Tide School her that first day of class, that she was in love with a human and she hadn't a clue if he was alive or not at this point?

Ariel looked at her sisters again, her bottom lip quivering faster now as she tried hard not to cry. She was ashamed, scared, guilty, angry, tired, confused, heartbroken, crestfallen, and fearful to look at any of them in the eye.

"Y-You're all so…so good to me." The youngest of the bunch whispered, her head falling once again in defeat. "I…I don't d-deserve to be your sister. Or b-be…a princess." Pausing, mostly to catch her hitching breath, Ariel tried to swallow the sob that was rising in her chest.

"I'm…I'm so sorry."

This proved to be enough for Attina. The oldest merprincess grabbed Ariel's hands tightly in her own, and when her youngest sister looked up at her in confusion, the young woman spoke in a tone that sounded like nails scratching on something unpleasant.

"What. Happened."

Attina wasn't mad, per say. It was just that the awful feeling she'd had earlier, the one had given her good suspicions on where Ariel had been and what had happened was coming back tenfold. The Crown Princess had a horrid inkling that she was right, and that terrified her to no degree.

For the very first time in her life, Attina was hoping she was wrong.

"Attina, your cutting circulation off from her hands!" Aquata's panicked voice cried out, quickly giving her oldest sister a shove that made the young woman release Ariel's hands.

Attina blinked, her mouth going dry as she looked down at her fingers. They were just starting to regain their own color again; that's how hard she'd been gripping at Ariel. The oldest merprincess felt her shoulders sag as a defeated sigh came from her mouth. She dared not look at her younger sisters, only focusing on Ariel at this point.

"Please, Ariel. Tell us." And then, in an even softer voice, she spoke again. "Tell _me_."

No one argued Attina's words. Even though they were all extraordinarily close to one another, it was a sort of silent agreement that they each had one sister whom they were even closer to. And when their mother had passed, and their father had not been in a right state of mind, it had fallen to Attina to raise Ariel from near nursery. So the youngest and the oldest had always had a sort of bond with one another, something that no one ever had a contention with.

"I…I…"

Through her hiccups and swollen eyes, Ariel noticed a shimmer over Attina's eyes. They were watering with the tears the oldest merprincess would never cry in front of her. Attina, the rock of the family, the one who was the most stable out of all of them in her emotions suddenly looked anything but.

It was at that moment that Ariel realized that her oldest sister already knew; she was just hoping that she was wrong.

That thought suddenly spurned something akin to a bright fire inside of Ariel. She _loved_ Eric. Whether he was still…no, she couldn't think of that, but in case it was true, it didn't matter. The past three days with him had been the most beautiful ones of her short life, and she did not regret becoming a human just to be with him.

He didn't judge her decisions. He simply jumped in and tried to help her through the aftermath of them. He did it because he loved her. And it was because of these thoughts that the merprincess quickly rubbed away the tears left in her eyes and she straightened up, her head lifting high.

She would not be ashamed of becoming human, not especially for doing so because of Eric. Attina could hope all she wanted, but that would never change a single thing. Ariel's heart had been captured, and be it human or merman, bygone it, she _would_ make it work.

"I r-rescued a human—Eric—from d-drowning. A-And after Daddy destroyed my c-collection…I went to the S-sea Witch and she turned me into a h-human for three days."

There were collective gasps among her sisters at her extremely simplistic telling of what happened. But out of all of them, Ariel held fast to Attina's horrified gaze, her stomach churning at what she knew she would have to say to her eldest sister's question.

"Ariel…_why_?"

It was the same question her father had asked her earlier, after Eric had rammed that ship through Ursula and she had been chaotically searching for any signs of her love.

"B-because I love him."

Her answer was the only explanation she could offer, the only thing that made sense in all this. Well, at least it made sense to her. To her father, if anything, it just seemed to make his emotions swim wild, and he'd simply said they'd talk about it later, while half dragging her back to the palace. To her sisters…well, if their ranging expressions had anything to say about it, it would be the same response as her father.

"How do you know that…you love him?" Aquata's soft voice questioned, her usually tougher demeanor breaking apart.

Ariel gave a light shrug. "I j-just…_do_. I can feel i-it…in my heart."

There was a silence among the seven sisters, an odd thing for them since they usually had so much to speak about. No one seemed capable of saying what they wanted to say, or they just didn't know _how_ to say it. The silence felt like a weight, a few eyes darting around, but for the most part, everyone stayed still and tried to shift through their emotions. It was a lot to take in all at once.

And then, just when Ariel was about to say something — she didn't know what she would have said, only that she would have said anything to dispel this silence — Arista spoke up.

"Does he make you happy, Ariel?" Arista's voice softly questioned, her hand reaching out to grasp that of her youngest sister.

Ariel looked up at her older sister, and upon seeing the compassionate look on her features, felt her bottom lip tremble as she smiled.

"Yes." Ariel whispered, clutching at Arista's hands tighter than ever before. "Oh, yes. Like you wouldn't b-believe."

"And you feel…safe, with him, up there?" Aquata asked, biting her bottom lip. Her eyes were worried, and her voice hesitant, but when Ariel looked at her, she felt it all melt away.

"As safe as I feel here." Ariel nodded furiously to get her point across. "But, I guess th-that goes without saying because…" Here the merprincess bit her lip, a mischievous smile playing the corners of her mouth. "He's a prince."

A ten-second shocked silence once again fell over the merprincesses, but this time, it was a certain seventeen year old princess who broke it.

"He's a _prince_?!" Andrina's voice shrieked aloud, her body coming from nowhere and tackling Ariel back to the pillows of her bed.

Her arms were wrapped tightly around her sister's neck, and within moments giggles from the four youngest could be heard. The sound was a refreshing change from the sobs that had once lighted the room.

"I was worrying for three days straight, and meanwhile you were _gallivanting_ with a _prince_?!" Andrina shrieked again, half out of breath from her laughter. "You are _so _dead!"

"It's not my f-fault!" Ariel laughed as well, squirming to be released from her sister's tight grip. "Andrina, this i-isn't a fair fight! I'm younger than you!"

Andrina laughed even harder, although she did loosen her grip considerably. "You're not going anywhere until I get _full_ details. What is this Eric like?"

"Is he cute?" Arista's voice chimed in, managing to make her way to Ariel and settle herself onto her sister's pillow.

"Does he have a brother who'd be into mermaids?" Aquata's own voice fell through as she followed Arista's lead and landed onto Ariel's pillow with a soft thump.

"Aquata, aren't you dating Gerolt?" Andrina wondered aloud wickedly, earning her a light shove from her older sister.

"Is he fluffy?" Arista asked again, giggling lightly and seemingly ignoring her sister's conversation.

"We are _not_ dating." Aquata clarified, although her voice faltered slightly on the 'not'.

"Is he as sweet as sea-sponge swirl?"

"Could've fooled me." Andrina snorted, before turning to her younger sister, who was still trying to catch her breath in between peals of laughter. "Right, Ariel?"

"Is he a _whole_ human or _half_ a human?"

"Most definitely!" Ariel agreed, earning a celebratory 'yes!' from Andrina. "A week ago I saw them—!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Alana's voice suddenly cut through, her sharp tone immediately making the four youngest who were lying squished together on Ariel's bed look up at her in confusion. "Have you all gone _insane_?"

Arista, always the first to recover and speak up, tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"The four of you! You're acting as though this is all…_normal_." Alana's disgusted voice put the four youngest at an uneasy state.

All of them blinked in confusion as they looked up at their three oldest sisters, who until this point had been oddly quiet. Somehow in their giggles, they had forgotten that the three oldest girls were not among their little group.

"What's not normal? Aquata dating Gerolt?" Even Andrina's light joke didn't seem to put the older girls out of their mood, although it did earn her another shove from Aquata.

"_No._" Adella's voice, usually so full of sighs and dramatic tones was shockingly harsh at this point. "Ariel and…and…one of those_ humans_."

"Adella—" Arista tried, sitting up and placing a gentle hand on her sister's tail. Her older sister, however, backed away from her offered contact as though it was poisonous.

"No, don't you try to make it seem like this is no big deal." Adella answered, nearly growling. "Do the four of you _not_ remember that we just spent ten years wishing for better times because of _them_?"

"But that has nothing to do with Eric!" Ariel found herself crying out, sitting up as well. She stared down Adella, a fire coming into her eyes. "You can't judge all humans just on actions of some bad ones!"

Ariel's logic seemed to cast some doubt over her sisters. Or at the very least it had made them quiet. Both Adella and Alana faltered, their mouths opening and closing in an attempt to say something that would not come out. And just when Ariel felt as though she had the upper-hand in this battle, she was quickly struck down again.

But this time, it was much, much worse.

"Actions?" Attina questioned quietly, having been uncharacteristically silent throughout all of this mess. "You call Momma's death _just_ an action of some bad humans?"

The mention of their mother put all the mermaids at unease, none of them at the point where talking about the woman who had given them life was comfortable. It had become better in the year since their father had reinstated music, but it still wasn't their absolute favorite topic to converse about.

"Attina…that's not what I meant." Ariel found herself whispering, her hands shaking slightly in her lap. This had gone from very good to very bad in just milliseconds.

"But that's what you said." Attina interjected, her voice growing icy now. "You said that it was just an action. So I suppose your _mother_ being _killed_ is just passing thing that you can forget. And then, while you're at it, you can turn your back on everything and everyone!"

The sharp words, flung outwards like a sword being twisted into a deep wound cut more deeply than Ariel would show. Although for the most part all her sisters flinched at Attina's spiteful words, none of them could understand the pain that it caused in their baby sister. Even _she_ couldn't understand it; she could only feel it.

"How can she turn her back and forget it, Attina, when she can't even _remember_ it?"

Andrina, the very last of her sisters to sit up, sighed deeply as she spoke up in Ariel's defense. Attina's head whipped in her direction with such glare that, had Andrina not been looking down at her fins, she would have had to wince.

"This doesn't involve you, Andrina. It's about Ariel. Shut. Up." Now the real anger was starting to seep into Attina's voice, one that, if left out too long, could do some real damage.

Unfortunately for her, her younger sisters were extremely tough.

"Your right; this _is _about Ariel." Aquata's acknowledged, before her eyes opened up in a fierce look. "But because Ariel is our sister, it also involves us."

Here Aquata paused, trying to find her courage to say what last she had to say.

"Momma always said that true love is a blind affair of the heart. So then at the very least we have to support Ariel's decision to be happy with the person she loves, no matter if he's a merman or a…human."

Those were good words, coming from the girl who had vomited the last time her teacher made her present a project to the class. Her voice might have faltered slightly on the 'human', but for the most part, she was able to keep her voice level. It was a satisfying, if not surprising, outcome.

"Support? You want me to support my sister breaking the _law_, turning her back on all of us for some damn _creature_, and basically being a _traitor_ to her kingdom and Mother?"

Attina's harsh words, almost too cruel, widened the eyes of all her sisters. Their oldest sister never swore. Their oldest sister never said such vile things. Their oldest sister never called one of them a traitor to their Mother. It was…it was simply undone!

"Attina," Arista's said softly, the only one of her sisters that could never stay in a silence for long. "Don't you think your being just a teensy weensy bit…brutal?"

"Brutal?" Attina wondered aloud, though her bitter voice seeped with venom. "Do you want to know what's brutal, Arista? Your idiotic _sisters_ betraying the memory of their Mother in seconds, just because they want _Ariel_ to feel 'supported in her decisions'. By allowing this, you killed Momma again!"

Arista broke down in tears. Aquata and Andrina looked away, each of them fighting back their own emotions of anguish. They could hardly remember their mother, and now, they were being accused of having killed her. The worst part was the guilt Attina's words instilled in them. Was she right about being there for their youngest sister's dreams was a travesty against the memory of their beloved Momma?

"That's a bit far, don't you think?" Alana muttered out of the side of her mouth, her comment most clearly directed towards her oldest sister.

Attina glared at her with such fierceness that the young woman was forced to look away. Being the two oldest, they'd always been able to be up-front and completely honest with one another. But now it seemed that Attina wanted anything but Alana's two-bit commentary on how hurtful her words were. The Crown Princess reared up to speak again, her nostrils flaring in anger as she turned towards her younger sister.

"Stop!" Ariel finally cried out, her voice broken and terrified. All eyes turned to the teenager, who's blue orbs were filled with tears once again. "Please, don't fight because of me." Now the youngest princess looked up at her oldest sister, her face the very picture of anxious.

"I'm so sorry for making you worry, for breaking the law, for hurting you, for making you all fight over me and everything else." Ariel paused, just for a brief second to catch her breath, before sucking everything she had in and letting a determined glow come across her features

"I…I _belong _as a human, though. I _love_ Eric, with all my heart. I am _**not **_going to be sorry that I did, what I _had_ to do so that I could live my dreams. And _you_ are just going to have to deal with that."

Every merprincess felt themselves blink and straighten up, their jaws hanging low in the process. Ariel had never spoken to them like _that_. She'd always been the baby, the dreamer, the tag-along-tattle-tail little sister. To see her, so serious, so…so…so womanly, well, it shocked them. And her words, so sure of themselves, added to that effect completely.

Even Attina, whom Ariel had steadied her gaze upon the entire time, felt rattled by her sister's words. She was a Crown Princess, and not to mention the oldest of her sisters. She demanded respect with just her presence. No one ever spoke out to her as such and told her she had to 'just deal' with things. Although Ariel had always been one of the most outspoken ones in the bunch, she'd understood that her most senior sister overruled her on both authority and maturity.

"I love you, Ariel." Adella's voice stated, soft, although the edge from earlier was still prevalent within it. "But I just can't love _this_ part of you. I know you don't remember Momma, but I do…and I just can't go through all that again. I just…I _can't_."

With that, Adella buried her face in her hands and swam out of her sister's room. She only left a single sob in her wake.

Ariel's sucked in a deep breath, but she kept her head high like a princess and refused to cry. She would not allow this to be her downfall. She knew where she stood, and she would not let anyone try to convince her that this was all so bad.

"I think I need the night to think." Aquata mumbled, her head turning away in shame.

No matter her defense from earlier, her oldest sister's words had struck a chord within the young woman, a chord that left her rattled and unwanting to continue this discussion.

"Wait for me!" Arista called out to Aquata, still sniffling and wiping her eyes with her hands

. She didn't look back to see Ariel's face, knowing that if she did, for sure she'd burst into tears again for doing this. But like Aquata, she needed time to think, to recuperate, to form a strategy of what to say and what to do.

Even though she was always the slowest when it came to picking up on things, she was also the most loyal out of all her sisters, and she knew that it was unfair to attach to Ariel and say how much she approved of all this when she wasn't sure that was how she truly felt.

Both Aquata and Arista swam out of the room, their leaving being marked by the soft closing of the shell door. Now only Alana, Attina, and Andrina remained, each of them looking at one another, then looking at their fins, and trying to see who would say what first.

Throughout it all, Ariel let her eyes become guarded, and though her bottom lip had quivered slightly, she still did not cry.

"I'm going to be a mess tomorrow if I don't get to sleep soon."

Alana finally mumbled, unable to come up with any other excuse. Then, after noticing the burn cream still on the bed as she lifted herself up to go, the merprincess stopped for a moment, sighing before she shook her head.

Easily, she scooped up the container. After a slight moment of hesitation, she placed it onto the Ariel's nightstand. All the while, she did not look at her sister, for fear her heart would break from her own words of hurt, as well as those coming from the family baby.

"If your burn starts to sting, lightly put some more cream on it, okay?"

With that, Alana turned to go. And the door opened so that she could leave, she realized that though Ariel had told them what had happened in the past three days, she'd never mentioned how she got that trident burn. The thought of it almost made Alana laugh.

"Get some rest, alright Ariel? We'll talk more in the mornin'." With a light shrug, as though none of this was a big deal, Andrina swam off.

She was never one for a big show, but then, knowing the girl well, Ariel understood that had Andrina not been upset by all this, she would have made some sort of joke before leaving. Or a sarcastic remark. Either way, she would have had the last word somehow.

Now it was down to two. From seven girls in room one room, to just two. The oldest at twenty two years of age, and the youngest, at only sixteen. Such an odd gap in years, such a difference between the two young women who stared at one another.

But Ariel's eyes were no longer guarded now. No, this was Attina, the one who she'd always been able to talk to. Attina had always been her sense of stableness in her life. Attina had always been there, even through the bad times. And now…now Attina held the power that could help re-fix Ariel's breaking heart.

So there was a sort of desperation in Ariel's eyes, one that spoke of the nights she had crawled into her older sister's bed looking for comfort. Then, because she could not remember it herself, she would whisper for Attina to sing that old song, the one that their parents had often remarked was there's. As she'd drift into the land of Nod, she'd hear the softly sung words of waves rolling high and low.

That's what her eyes begged for. That's not what she got.

"I hate you."

As Attina reached the door of the room, the sounds of her baby sister's heart-wrenching sobs crushed her soul.


	2. Chapter 2: Love Brings Difficulties

_**Hey guys! Another chapter, huh? So please review, as this is the updated version of this story, and I'd really like to know if this is a direction you guys are liking, or whatever is going on. So without further ado, read on! :)**_

_**Converse r life**_

* * *

King Triton had a restless night.

Every time he tried to fall asleep, he was haunted by thoughts of his youngest daughter. His eyes could only stay shut for a minute or two before his heart started to race and he forced them to open again so that he could ascertain that he was still in his room. His exhausted reasoning went along the lines of this: if he was still in his room, then that meant he was not a sea polyp, and that his beloved little girl was no longer in mortal danger.

Finally, after two or three hours of this in the darkness, light started to stream through the sea. Triton, still awake, decided that this was as good a time as any to get up from his bed.

As he sat up, the king cringed deeply at the pain that was coming from his back. Turning into a polyp and then back into a merman hadn't been without its side effects, or so it seemed. He'd always had his share of back problems though, and not just because he was growing older.

A ghost of a smile lifted onto Triton's features as he remembered how he'd acquired this.

At the beginning of their marriage, he and his dear Athena had disliked one another with such a youthful passion that for the first two years, they had even refused to share the same bed. Well, perhaps 'they' was going a bit too far.

Athena, with all her paranoia about what he "might do", had made him sleep on the floor, while _she _had taken the bed. He was almost positive that this is what ruined his back, although his late wife always disagreed, whether out of guilt or sheer stubbornness he never knew. However, to be fair, she did have a point making him sleep away from her back then.

Triton could not count how many arranged marriages ended up with one of the parties unwillingly being taken to the marriage bed.

As soon as the thoughts of his late wife filled his head, the king shook them off. He could not…no, _would_ not entertain these thoughts. It always filled him with such a deep sadness, and right now, he needed to keep his head straight. He had to think about everything he'd learned.

But how could he think about all this, when it only filled him with a sense of dread and unease? And that was only him; what would happen in an hour's time when the servants rose and started to prepare for the day?

The hustle and bustle of the palace surely would not allow him a moment of quiet to get his bearings straight. Not to mention the odd looks he'd acquire from people wondering why he'd suddenly rushed off last night.

That meant he'd have to go somewhere calming now, somewhere that he would not be disturbed. He could always go to his sea-calliope, but then he would be tempted to play the instrument, and that sort of music was not exactly the kind that was wonderful to wake up to, or so he'd get an earful from his daughters.

The throne room perhaps? No, that was the first place they'd look.

So then where…?

Ah.

Triton's eyes grew wide, glinting with slight mischief.

* * *

In the early morning light, behind a plant that dwarfed her, the Crown Princess of Atlantica pressed her tail closer to her chest and sighed.

She hadn't hidden herself away like this since she was a child trying to escape punishment.

Indeed, if she closed her eyes tightly enough she could still hear the distinct sound of someone swimming into the still garden, and then her mother's lilting voice calling out her name. The guilt weighing on her chest like the rocks that had become part of coral reefs, she'd never answered those calls, convinced that her life could not be any worse than it was at the very moment.

Attina buried her face into her tail. There were far too many comparisons with her childhood and this moment than she would have liked. Even her feelings felt the same; the guilt, the horror, and that achy feeling coming somewhere from her chest that she now knew as heartbreak. The only thing that was different would be the fact that no sweet-sounding voice would evade her ears anytime soon.

The heir the throne sighed.

Ariel was in love. Not guppy love, no, _real_ in love. There was no going around that fact any longer, however hard she tried. But Ariel was in love with a…a…_human_.

Just the word sent angry shudders down Attina's spine.

Those monsters had destroyed her mother, and with it, _her_ entire world. The sudden loss, the pain, and the responsibilities that had come with it had shattered the few chances she had still had at a semi-normal life. Then to have her precious music taken away so soon afterwards had been an even worse blow. Ten years of hidden misery on her part finally lead to a bright, better world, after so long.

And now Ariel wanted to take it all away.

How could the Crown Princess make her understand the hurt that accompanied any mention of humans? Ariel had been too young to really know all that had gone on after their mother had died, yes Attina understood that, but gracious, did her baby sister have to be so _blunt_ about her thoughts? And why did she feel the need to twist the already embedded sword into her oldest sister's heart with…with everything?!

Attina groaned, blearily lifting her head up so that she could watch as her finger traced the sand.

She had the right idea as a child. She should just lock her sister into a closet because "the baby hurt me, so I punished her". Although, her parents hadn't quite followed with her logic at the time, or been that amused…

The sound of the elevating shaft door opening and then closing made Attina stiffen. Her heart pounded in her chest suddenly, and she slowly started to slink lower to the sand. She knew that it was probably one of her sisters, most likely Alana, coming to find her, and right now, Attina did not want to be found.

On the flip side, it could be a servant, although that thought was even worse than one of her younger sisters finding her here like this. Besides, logic dictated that it must be someone of her family, considering that no right-minded Atlantican would use the thing specifically built for her mother.

After a slight tumble when she was heavily pregnant with their second child (pregnancy will throw any woman off balance and out of mind, Athena would always interrupt) while going up the inclining hallways that lead to the garden, a worried Triton had ordered a sort of automatic pulley one-stop-shop thing be built for his wife.

Thus, the elevating shaft was born.

Athena, forever stubborn, refused to use it, stating she had abnormal claustrophobia. The servants thought it a strange device and were afraid to use it, not that they would have had much need to. However, as children who fear nothing, Attina could not count the number of times she'd gone up and down with her sisters.

Shaking off those thoughts quickly, Attina focused on what was at hand. Sometimes, she worried about how her chain of thought could be so quickly thrown off by just the mere sound of something.

Speaking of sounds, she could hear someone swimming closer to her. Grimacing, the Crown Princess sunk down all the way to the sand, so that she was now lying on top of it. She kept her eyes closed, hoping that somehow, someway, whoever as here would leave soon.

"Attina?" A surprised voice questioned, in a tone that the princess knew very well. She also knew the speaker, and because of it, she bolted upright, almost in a frantic state.

"Father!" She cried out, as though she'd been startled. Blushing, the young woman looked down, suddenly too sheepish and ashamed. "I was—I mean, I was just…I was trying to—to unwind a bit, that's all."

Triton raised a white eyebrow, as though he didn't believe a word she had said. With good reason too, because Attina wasn't sure she believed it either. Or remembered it for that matter.

"You haven't tried hiding like this for years." Triton mused. He could still recall his oldest daughter being his _only_ daughter, and the thought filled him with sadness. "And whenever you did, it was because you felt horrid over something you had done."

Attina held back a shrug, fearing it would be un-princess like to do so and instead opted instead for a soft sigh. Her eyes were still trained to the sand, because she knew that she could not face her father's questioning eyes. Likewise, she did not answer his musings.

A silence passed for a few seconds, before Triton cleared his throat, as though expecting his oldest daughter to say something. Attina, born and bred in the aristocratic lifestyle, always had at least a polite comment to say. However, right now it seemed to be the exact opposite. His daughter looked as though she wouldn't be talking, least of all to him anytime soon.

The king gave a sigh, his shoulders slumping, before he decided to sit beside the girl on the ground. He noticed Attina stiffen slightly when she realized this, but she refrained from saying anything, instead continuing from before by using her finger to draw circles in the sand.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Triton wondered. When he received no response, he decided to probe again. "Attina?"

The brunette princess sighed, turning her face away from the king's view. "You know as well as I 'what happened', Father."

Triton sighed again, realizing what she was talking about. "Ah. So this is about your sister."

Attina gave a hard laugh. "My sister, my _sisters_, and eleven years of pure failure when it concerns my family, you mean."

"Attina —" Triton's reached one of his arms to his eldest daughter. The moment his skin made contact with hers, she stiffened and moved so that she was out of his reach.

He sighed again.

"Just…_don't_." Attina cut him off irritably, scowling at the ground. "You haven't been concerned in over a decade, Dad, and now you want to start again? I'm twenty-two, not twelve."

Even when she was mad, she wasn't able to exactly voice out her frustrations to her father. Of course, she plainly alluded to them, but eleven years of treating her father as simply her king had made Attina unable to actually _speak_ to him.

Alana had once asked why the Crown-Princess couldn't forgive and forget, citing that her younger siblings hadn't a problem doing so. They'd all been so eager to move on past a painful decade in their lives that they simply pretended to this had never happened.

In the past year, it seemed like each of the princesses from Alana down had suddenly grown from little girls to young women overnight, and none of them had questioned the ten year gap in between. It was as though they had all forgotten, and Attina alone was the only one who could remember.

But then, none of her sisters had lost their childhoods by having to be a step-in mother at the age of eleven due to the emotional instability of their father.

Attina had made sure of it.

"I do still care, Attina. I always did." Triton said softly, the hurt evident in his tone.

Guilt tore into the young woman whom he was speaking to. Her body slumped, so unusual for her considering how worried she could be about looking non-princess like. Yet, she did not reply to his comments, perhaps for the fear of what may have come out. Instead, she let her father question her again.

"Did Ariel tell you what happened?"

"The basics. She was…_enamored_ with a…human," Attina looked up, cautiously gauging her father's reaction to that one word "so she went to the Sea Witch, who turned her into one of _them_ so that she could meet this…_monster_."

Even when she was hurting because of her baby sister, Attina could not hand the girl up. Ariel had said that she'd rescued this human from drowning, and that it was her willing choice to go meet with him by means of the Sea Witch.

Any type of contact between merpeople and humans was outlawed, although this was mostly in place to discourage meetings between the two worlds and the tragic consequences because of them. Going to the Sea Witch, while not in fact outlawed, was severely frowned upon in society, as she was a traitor to all of Atlantica.

The twenty-two year old felt a chill go down her spine at just the thought of her father finding out that Ariel had broken two of the most basic childhood rules.

"Ah." Triton made a noise to signify that he had heard, before leaning back on his extended arms. "I suppose she didn't tell you about how she failed to get a kiss of true love from this boy in the span of three days because the Sea Witch had him under some sort of spell, and that she then belonged to Ursula, as per the contract she willingly signed?"

Attina jerked, gasping in surprise and looking up at her father for what seemed like the first time. Triton looked extremely…calm. That was certainly an oddity, considering he had seven daughters and had just said the words 'kiss' 'love' and 'boy' within the same sentence. Then, adding upon that was the fact that the Sea Witch and a human was thrown into this mess? Usually he would have been raging.

Perhaps the Sea Witch had gotten to him as well.

Attina felt her throat go dry at the thought.

"N-No. She never said a word about…about all that."

Unable to keep her voice steady, the Crown Princess felt her heart beat start to quicken. Ariel was her baby sister. Hard-headed and headstrong as the redheaded teenager may be, there was nothing Attina wouldn't do to keep her safe.

Nothing.

Then a thought occurred to her. "Wait, but you said she signed a contract that would force her to be the Sea Witch's." She started slowly, letting her thoughts become a collected sentence. "So then how…?"

Triton gave a rather half-hearted smile. "Sebastian told me what happened just in time. When I couldn't destroy the contract, I did the only thing I could."

Attina's brows pushed together in confusion. "Kill the Sea Witch?"

"No." Triton chuckled, although there was no amusement behind it. "Although that would have saved countless trouble, firstly however horrible Ursula was, she is still entitled to a fair trial, secondly I've never been fond of the idea to kill my sister, and thirdly, I was completely consumed by how to get Ariel away from that mess."

"I'm not following, Father." Attina said, sighing as she dug her fingers back into the sand. Triton shook his head.

"In exchange for Ariel's safety, I traded myself to Ursula."

Attina felt her mind grow numb. Then, wide-eyed, she looked at her father with an expression of incredulity. She did not gasp. She did not cry out. Her body simply started to involuntarily shake.

She wasn't even sure if it was in fear or horror.

"You…you…"

There were no words to describe what she felt. She couldn't even understand it. Every thought ran through her mind, every possibility, every scenario. None of it seemed to make any sense.

Triton gave a sad smile. "That's right; I did. Though it hardly matters now, considering that human boy destroyed Ursula."

"The Sea Witch is…dead?" Attina squeaked, and she noticed how her father hesitated before nodding, as though _he_ wasn't even sure how to feel about it.

"If Ariel's babbling is to be believed, then yes." Triton clarified, his voice tightening. "Ursula took control of the trident with me out of the way as a polyp, became some sort of massive being that rose out of the water, and then created a whirlpool with Ariel at the bottom so that she could start to shoot at her. I assume you saw the burn marks on her back, correct?"

Attina felt her own throat start to tighten in simple horror. "Adella noticed them. She remembered the same burns being on Momma's hands. Alana put that cream the healer made for her on them right away."

"Ah. Smart girls." Triton nodded, a slight proud smile coming onto his features. "And your younger sisters?"

"They understood once I reviewed the story of how I was born." Throat tightening, Attina felt her heart start to constrict more and more as she realized the full extent of her sister's actions.

But this wasn't making sense.

Her father should have been an incontrollable, livid monster. After all, from his own account Sebastian had just told him where Ariel had been for the past three days (and what she'd been doing) when he met the Sea Witch. If there were three things her father hated most in life, it would be humans, teenage boys, and the Sea Witch herself.

He would have no qualms about shooting a human with his trident (although he wouldn't do so in front of his daughters, which is the _real_ reason behind him not destroying that human who came down in a mechanical type fish). Any boy that came within a 10 fin-stroke radius of the princesses was virtually sushi when it came to Triton. And to even mention the Sea Witch in his presence was subject to many things being destroyed.

He should beacting like _that_ at this moment, since all three things had suddenly become a standard conversation topic.

So then why wasn't he?

"Father," Attina started hesitantly, earning her father's gaze upon her. "Why aren't you angry?"

The words were blurted from her mouth before she could even stop them. But the formalities were tiring her out, and she wanted, no, _demanded_ answers.

"Angry?" Triton appeared to be startled by the question.

Attina nodded. "Yes, angry. Ariel's trips to the surface are usually enough to make you furious, and yet, her literally trying to _run_ off with a _human_ boy by making a deal with the Sea Witch to obtain legs doesn't seem to bother you in the slightest."

"I had time to think this all over," Triton started, his words slow and precise "and I came to the realization that Ariel is no longer the little girl she was three days ago."

Attina blinked in confusion, her lips turning in a frown. "What?"

"How was she last night, around your sisters and you?" Triton only asked in response, garnering more confusion from Attina.

"She was hysterical." The crown-princess said immediately, before pieces of the puzzle started to fit together in her head. "But then…then she was so definite. Unafraid. Self-assured. Like…like a young woman."

Attina's voice fell to nothing but a whisper on the last two words. Realization clicked into place, and she felt her heart sink into her chest. Her baby sister…she was no more. Now there was simply Ariel, a confident woman who could take on the world at a moment's notice.

Why is it that these new understandings hurt worse than knowing Ariel was in love with a monster?

"That's what I thought." The deep rumble of her father's voice brought the mermaid back to the present. "And then I realized that I _couldn't_ be angry with her. Perhaps she didn't think through it all, but she did what she had to for a chance at her dream. Punishing her now would be useless. Not after all she's been through."

"But…but she put all of Atlantica at danger! She put _herself_ in unnecessary danger!"

Somewhere, deep inside her, Attina was still clinging to the hope that things could go on as they would in the past. Her father would deliver some mediocre punishment that was far too lenient on his youngest, and then Ariel would complain about how unfair the entire situation was. Then at last minute, because of the adorable pout on her face, Triton would relent and allow the girl to join in the fun.

And just because she was the baby, she could get away with this every time.

Triton sighed, before offering a thin smile. "She only put _herself_ in danger's way, Attina. Almost losing Atlantica was entirely my fault."

"About that," Attina started again, unable to keep her flow of questions to herself "why did you do it, Dad? Trade yourself for Ariel, I mean. You've always said that a good ruler puts the needs of the kingdom before their own."

"I have said that, haven't I?" Triton acknowledged ruefully, a thin smile upon his lips.

Attina let an annoyed noise come from her throat.

"_You're avoiding the question, Dad._"

In that one moment, looking at his daughter, Triton felt as though he had been transported into the past.

This was the time before his wife had passed. This was before Attina had taken on the role as replacement mother to her younger sisters. This was before anything bad had ever happened. No, suddenly in place of a young woman was a young girl, everything about her and the young woman she'd replaced so alike, and yet, so different.

It was Attina at six years of age. He could tell by the pink scar that had formed on her shoulder, something that would be almost unnoticeable when she was a young woman. Her loose hair framed her round face in a mess of knotted tangles that _he_ had tried to brush through. Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout, and those green eyes of hers spoke of wonders.

Suddenly, Triton could place this moment with vivid accuracy.

Athena was having trouble giving birth to their last child, and barred from the room, Triton was worriedly pacing outside the chamber. He was keeping an eye on his other daughters as well, although they had been more concerned with their toys.

Perhaps bored of playing, Attina had swum straight to him and asked when she would see her Momma. Unable to come up with an answer, Triton told her to go sit down.

She was smart, however, and repeated what she'd heard her mother before. She hadn't any idea what it meant (how does one actually keep away from a question?), but in that moment, she didn't care.

And when Triton had pulled her into a hug, he didn't either.

"Father?"

Attina's irritated voice broke Triton out of his memory. He blinked, and just like before, his eldest daughter had transformed. Only this time, she was no longer a little girl who wanted her Mother. No, now she was back to being that breathtaking young woman that she had somehow grown into over the past decade.

Triton cleared his throat, trying to dispel his thoughts as well. "I…well, you know I..."

Attina blinked, tilting her head to the side in her father's conquest for the right words. The king sighed, realizing that she in fact _didn't_ know. After ten years of silence, he still struggled to find a proper way to express his feelings.

Finally sighing once more, Triton reached out his arms to wrap the young woman in a tight hug. He felt his oldest stiffen in shock, but allow it all the same.

"Attina," Triton started in a soft voice, "I made a promise to your mother that I would raise all seven of you properly. That meant doing everything in my power to keep you safe and loved, even if I had to sacrifice myself to do so."

At the mere mention of her mother, Attina gripped at her father tightly. She was always the strong one, and yet, here she was hugging her father like a child. On top of that, the horrible things she'd said to her baby sister the night before filled her with deep hurt. Her mother would be so ashamed of her actions and words.

"I said such horrible things to her last night, Dad." Attina whispered, trying hard not to cry. "She's my b-baby sister, and I was so…m-_mean_."

"It's alright, dear." Triton said gently, rubbing her back soothingly. "We've all done things we're not proud of."

"N-No Daddy, she said she loved being h-human with him…and I s-said I hated her." Sobbing softly, Attina buried her face into her father's beard.

It was the first time she'd called him 'Daddy' since she was eight.

"You were hurt, Attina. It's perfectly understandable that you said something you didn't mean." Triton sighed, grimacing slightly as he knew where _that_ genetic trait had come from.

While Attina struggled to stop her tears, her mind roamed wild. After what she said to Ariel, she knew there was only one way to fix it. She also knew that the only person her father would listen to would be her.

Despite her hurt and hatred for those that had taken her mother from her, the young woman finally understood what she had to do for her baby sister. After seeing Ariel so…so hurt last night, she unequivocally knew that there was only path the girl would be alright on. No, it would not be easy, but Attina would move coral reefs for her sisters.

She held the power to set things right.

She had the authority to make a difference.

She was the last chance for Ariel to be happy again.

"Father," The merprincess addressed, looking up through her sniffles at the man. "You have to change Ariel into a human."

"What?!"

There was a familiar sharp edge to Triton's words, but there was also something new there. Something that must have come from the man realizing just as much, but not wanting to admit it. Hurting.

Still clutching her father as hard as she could, Attina buried her head into his chest once more, feeling the familiar weight of his hand rest on her shoulder. She would be lying if she said she did not miss the comfort a simple hug gave her.

"She'll never be happy here, Dad." Attina said softly, feeling a raw ache start to form at the pit of her stomach. "We got to love her with as the baby for sixteen years. Now it's time for that human—Eric, his name is Eric—to love her as a woman."

Unable to come up with an argument to his eldest's surprising words, Triton frowned deeply. Unhappily, really. He didn't want to do something that would hurt him further.

Wasn't it enough that in the past four days he'd been on an emotional whale-o-coaster? Couldn't life just give him two minutes to break and perhaps let him relax? Honestly, he didn't think that was asking for much.

"When did you stop being my little girl and become so wise?" Triton wondered finally, and a faint smile lifted onto his features when he noticed Attina give a grin.

"Probably around the time you started going gray." Attina answered with a hint of her old spunk, before her face became serious and she released her father from the hug.

"Ariel's not in her room, Dad. But I'm fairly certain Sebastian knows where she is." Pausing for just a brief second, the young woman connected her eyes with her father, standing up in the process to leave.

"You should talk to him and find her."

With that, the oldest merprincess headed off. If Triton had to guess, he'd say she was going to get an hour or two more of sleep. Or perhaps she'd go for a swim on the reef. Either way, he knew that he should trust what his oldest daughter – the one who hated humans with such a passion that it rivaled his own until apparently a few minutes ago – had to say.

Trouble was, he was still trying to figure out how his daughters had grown up so fast.

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	3. Chapter 3: Recognizing Obstacles

_**Hey guys! I'm back :) Hope you like the new chapter, and please, please, please review. I hope you like it! **  
_

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_There was a rough storm plowing through the sea. Ariel found herself trying to hold on desperately to a rope on the ship. The wind was far too strong though, and she was forced to let go. In horror, she watched as the ship blew up, shards of what remained flying everywhere. She was lucky enough to dodge a few pieces before they hit her. _

_She came into contact with Eric's miraculously unscathed, unconscious body. However, before she was able to loop her arm under him, she was taken into a sort of chokehold by someone else. With horror, she tried and tried to fight it, but she was unable to release herself. She watched as Eric sunk beneath the waves to his death. _

"_Aha, ha, ha!"_

_Without warning, Ariel was thrown like a toy. She kept falling, down, down, down, until she reached the bottom with a sickening thud. She knew something had broken in the fall. In her last moments, she found a heart break like no other settling into her chest. She managed to turn her eyes upwards, preparing for death. _

_The Sea Witch was smiling down at her lying in a heap at the bottom of a whirlpool in a malicious sort of matter. The woman raised the trident, a crazed look in her eyes. _

"_So much, for true love!" _

Ariel suddenly slammed awake.

Panting, the girl looked everywhere she could. For the first few seconds, she was blinded by the early morning light starting to spill in through her window. Then her heart started to race as she realized that she could not recognize this room in Eric's palace.

And then a soft gasp left her as she came to a horrifying conclusion: she was back in her room in Atlantica.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Ariel gave a soft sigh. She closed her eyes tightly and fell back to her pillow, grimacing at the twinge that came from her back. In fact, everything about her was feeling the previous night. Her backside, her arms, her fingers, her pounding skull, and her lower body ached like a sea-devil.

She'd already felt sore before, when Ursula had transformed her into a human. Transforming back into a mermaid had been even _more_ painful. Thank goodness she had a high pain tolerance. After all, there was no cream that Alana could create that would take away how she felt after having organs shift, bones form, muscle split, and even more.

_Alana_.

The thought of her second oldest sister echoed in her mind. In fact, _all_ her sisters ran through her mind. From their words to their actions to the night before, Ariel could not have felt more alone than in this moment.

In the aftermath of all that, she could see clearly from their side. While she could barely remember her mother, they recalled her with exact certainty. Having Athena ripped out of their lives was hard. Only being little girls, they looked and listened to their only surviving parent, clinging onto his words because they could not bear to lose someone else.

In a horrible turn of events, they had nearly lost her, and all because of her dream to be a human. It made sense that they would need time to think it over and reevaluate this set opinion. They didn't mean to be hurtful. They just wanted to protect her from any bad words they might say.

Or…at least, that applied her first five older sisters.

When it came to her oldest sibling, Attina, well, Ariel was still trying to figure _that_ one out.

Groaning, Ariel pressed a pillow over her face. She knew full well that she'd crossed the line. Even after all of her crazy schemes that always backfired in some way or another (taking a sea-monster home with her, releasing the Evil Manta from the volcano where the Ancient Atlanticans had trapped him, being rude with Prince Thor of Olympia and almost plunging Atlantica into a war…the list is endless, really), Attina had always been on her side, always been the barrier between her and Triton.

She could not count how many times Attina had taken the blame for one of her stupid stunts. She never had too, but she did anyway. Afterwards, her oldest sister would wrap her arms around the teenager and tell simply warn for her to be more careful. Then Attina would straighten out her baby's sister's long red hair, before shooing her off to go play with a smile.

"Now she hates me." Ariel mumbled, sighing to herself in resignation.

At least it could be worse though, her mind reasoned. It could be someone else who hated you. Someone like Eric.

Without warning, the pillow she'd been pressing against her face was suddenly thrown across the room. She gasped loudly, eyes growing wide and her heart racing even more then it had been when she'd woken from that nightmare.

"Eric!" The merprincess cried out, shooting up in bed once again.

The last she'd seen of Eric was his tiny figure jumping off of the ship that was being enveloped by Ursula's tentacles. It surprised Ariel how little she could care about that evil woman's death, and how much she could care about the love of her life being hurt somewhere. Although, that in a morbid sort of way, that all made sense.

Speaking of morbid, were her thoughts about Eric already too late because he was…? The girl shuddered fiercely. No. Just no. She would not entertain such a thing her mind. She _would_ find him, and she would find him _alive_.

Determination welled up inside of her. Eyes flickering to the doorway of her room, the girl realized that she could not leave the castle the normal way. The chance of someone catching her and then turning her in to her father was too much. Or she'd have to meet their questioning gazes, something she did not want to deal with at the moment.

The teenager rose out of bed, hissing at the pain that came from her back. Out of habit, she went straight to her little vanity. Usually she would check to see how bad her hair was, and if she needed her sisters help to control it or if she could take care of this on her own. However, she could not find her brush. It just wasn't in its usual spot.

"Ugh!" Ariel mumbled, smacking her forehead in frustration. "Of course it's not here; Attina was using it last night and she didn't put it back."

Sighing, the girl swam back to her bed. For a few moments, she looked around in a perplexing state, before finally locating the darn thing. It'd been sitting on her nightstand this entire time, next to the tube of burn cream Alana had left for her.

The very image of the medicinal cream made Ariel stiffen. Even when hurt and confused her sisters tried to take care of her. And what did she do to repay them? She thought about going right back to Eric.

Her bottom lip trembling, Ariel forced herself to focus on the task at hand. She had to find Eric. She had to take care of Eric. She had to know that Eric was safe. There was no room for sensitivity at a time like this.

After all, she had bigger things on her mind. What, with having to find where Eric was, seeing if he was safe or not, perhaps trying to flag down help for him. With this in mind, Ariel pushed out all other feelings and thoughts – her guilt, her sorrow, and even her anger – and slowly swam out of her window.

* * *

Almost all of Atlantica was fast asleep, Ariel noted. It made sense, considering that dawn was just breaking. Most people were probably starting to rise at this time, preparing for another day. Still, seeing Atlantica at this early hour, with no one around always made the teen feel sort of empty.

Or perhaps her emptiness could be stemming from the fact that she took no fun in sneaking past the palace guards just a few minutes before. Even though she'd long since perfected her technique, usually sneaking out to do something she wasn't allowed too was thrilling. Today, however, it just felt useless.

Sighing to herself quietly, the merprincess continued to swim towards the entrance (and exit) to her beloved home. Atlantica's borders extended through a vast area of the ocean, which included a coveted vacation spot at the Winter Resort to even the crazy Eel-Ectric City. However, the main city was named after the kingdom itself, Atlantica. So although Ariel had been out of city limits more times than she could count, she'd never really been _away_ from Atlantica.

Until, of course, the past three days.

Frowning at the negative undertone her thoughts had taken, Ariel tried hard to clear her mind. Thinking of past geography lessons was not helping, and neither was dwelling on the emptiness clawing at her insides. She should just be determined to go find Eric and —

"Whoa!"

"Ow! Watch it!"

As she managed to bump into someone, Ariel heard a distinctive hiss of pain. An apology already on her lips, the teen looked up quickly. Who she saw, however, made her stop in her tracks.

"_Pearl_?" Surprise filled every crevice of Ariel's tone.

The blonde mermaid that was before her had strands of blond hair escaping from her usually immaculate hairpiece. One of her trademark earrings was missing, and her purple shells looked slightly lopsided. Her eye-makeup was a mess, and her lips appeared to be more on the swollen side.

"Ariel?" Shock registered across Pearl's face, her eyes widening. "Where have you _been_? When did you come _back_?"

Ariel hesitated, before sighing and letting go of her inhibitions. "I was…erm, I went to the Sea-Witch and she transformed me into a human. Daddy brought me back last night."

Pearl blinked, shock once again flickering around her features. "Wait, _what_?"

"I went to the Sea-Witch and was transformed into a human because I fell in love with a human boy. " Ariel repeated simply with a shrug. It seemed like that happened years ago, instead of a few days.

Pearl still looked incapacitated by this stunning news. "A _human_?"

Unsure whether she was referring to the fact that the teenager before her had been a human, or that she'd fallen in love with one, Ariel simply gave a helpless shrug.

She'd never been close to Pearl, mostly because she'd been in Alana's circle of friends and after that stunt in Eel-Ectric City, it was hard to be friends with someone who would willingly put her life at risk for attention. However, the young woman still remained one of the most popular socialites in the kingdom of Atlantica, so she still deserved some part of the truth.

Or at least, that's what Ariel figured anyway.

"You've gotta be kidding." Pearl finally managed to say, to which Ariel responded with a frown. "There is no way that you just spent the last three days up…up there with some human. That's…_insane_!"

"I did what I had to for love." Ariel answered, about as truthful as she could be without implicating too many details about how that had happened.

Pearl jerked in surprise, looking squarely into Ariel's mature eyes. Her own eyes were gleaming with the chance at acquiring new gossip. "And did he…did he love you back? Like, for real?"

"Yes. Yes he does." Suddenly the maturity was gone, and Ariel felt her lips pull into a lovesick smile without her permission. If the past night was her guide, than it seemed Eric would move mountains for her.

"At least one man is capable of love." Pearl mumbled under her breath, shooting a hurt gaze back towards the house she'd exited out of. "So what? Your dad blew a tidal wave, dragged you back, and now you're trying to escape?"

Ariel gave a shrug to Pearl's suspiciously raised eyebrows. It was close enough to the truth. "Something like that. What are you doing out at this time?"

"I was…I just…" Shamefaced for probably the first time in her life, Pearl cast another sad look towards the home she had exited out of.

Ariel peeked over Pearl's shoulder. She knew who lived there! That was the home of a tide-school classmate! He had an older brother, and if she remembered correctly he'd been the same age as Alana, which would make him the same age as Pearl. Finley was his name, and he'd been the merboy every girl had been in love with. But why would Pearl want to visit Finley at night?

Realization dawned on Ariel, and her face turned the color of her hair. "O-Oh!"

"Yeah." Pearl drawled out, though her voice cracked slightly. Uncertain, Ariel swam forward and placed a gentle hand on Pearl's shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ariel questioned softly, and the young woman before her shook her head quickly.

She inwardly breathed in a sigh of relief. She wasn't exactly an expert on that sort of subject. Attina had given her "the talk" when she was around ten, and after that incredibly awkward conversation, Ariel never wanted to hear another word about it. Even having six older sisters (one or more of whom she suspected of already engaging in these things), she'd somehow managed to retain much of her innocence in that area.

"Do you want a hug?" Much more cautious now, the teenager peeked at her older sister's friend from behind her unruly hair.

Pearl hesitated once, before nodding slowly. So Ariel, taking from memories of what her own sisters would do if she was upset, wrapped her arms around the young woman. Surprisingly, she felt Pearl grip at her tightly. And no, these weren't her sisters' arms, or her father's warm hug, but Ariel figured that a hug was a hug, no matter who was giving it.

They stayed like that for a moment, before slowly letting go. Pearl gave an almost tearful smile to Ariel, unable to put in words how thankful she was. Ariel simply dipped in head in acknowledgement, mentally counting up the minutes she'd spent here with Pearl and away from her search of Eric. She estimated about ten minutes.

"Oh, Neptune." Pearl suddenly whispered, eyes widening.

She'd locked onto something past Ariel's shoulder, a figure starting to emerge. Anyone would know who he was. Softly, the young woman let out a string of expletives that let Ariel blushing.

"What? What is it?" Ariel started to crane her neck backwards, before she was jerked back by Pearl.

"Don't look." The young woman hissed. "It's your Dad."

Dumbstruck, all Ariel could do was repeat. "My Dad?"

"You go, I'll distract him." Already Pearl was pushing her in the direction of the exit out of Atlantica. Ariel, however, stiffened up, turning back to Pearl with wide eyes.

"_You're_ going to distract him?" The incredulity in her voice must have been pretty forceful, because she received a scowl from Pearl.

Ariel had a right to be unsure of all this though. She knew that Pearl was not the type to be so nice. The young woman was a social climbing diva, who got what she wanted when she wanted it. She took no crap from anyone.

Well, most anyone that is.

"I owe your big sis a favor anyway." Pearl retorted, shrugging off her scowl and pushing Ariel once again in the direction of the exit. "Now go before you get _me_ in trouble!"

This time Ariel actually started swimming. She looked back once, catching Pearl's eye. The young woman grinned cheekily at her, shooting her a thumbs up, before she started to swim towards the figure of a large merman.

A small smile managed to reach Ariel's lips. Somehow, she had a feeling Pearl didn't owe Alana any favors as of late.

Then, the young woman quickly shook her head, trying to erase those thoughts. Bearing in mind that her father was on her fins and that she'd wasted a good fifteen minutes with Pearl already, Ariel started to speed towards the exit of Atlantica. She didn't know how long it would take to locate Eric, and if the sun was too far up in the sky by that time, she'd either have to stay in the water or risk getting a very bad sunburn.

She had a feeling she'd be risking that sunburn.

Sighing for about the millionth time, the girl pushed back her red hair. However, because her red locks had a mind of their own, they simply fell back down onto her face, covering her eyes. Unable to see, and at the speed she'd been going at, it made perfect sense that she crashed into another person this time.

"Oomph!"

"Hey!"

Straightening up impatiently, Ariel pushed her hair out of her eyes. Starting to straighten up himself in front of her was a boy. No, not a boy, it was her friend (and practically her brother) _Urchin_.

"Ariel?!" Urchin cried out, the same shock Pearl had at seeing her present on his face. He struggled to readjust his too-big helmet and comically large gold breast plate.

Ariel could have slapped herself. Of course! How could she have been so foolish, not to think this out?

She knew Urchin was training to be in the guard (it was really a way to keep him out of trouble), and that they had put him on night shifts for guarding Atlantica's exit. It was the one job he could actually do, considering how poor he was at swordsmanship and how his fifteen year old body had not developed any muscles.

With Urchin here, she knew he would want an explanation for her sudden disappearance. A year ago he would have been on this latest adventure with her. But with his training schedule and night shifts…well, it was difficult enough to stay friends as it was.

Ariel was in no mood to figure out how to explain to him all that had happened. Pearl had been easily satisfied because she did not know the merprincess. Urchin was a different story.

"Urchin, I know you want to talk, but right now, I _really_ need to get through." Her teeth set in a hard line, Ariel cut off her friend before he was able to even start.

Urchin frowned, pushing his helmet off of his eyes. "What? Why?"

"I don't have the time to explain it." Ariel tried to steer the conversation, leaning towards Atlantica's exit.

Noticing this, Urchin quickly started blocking her. "You had time to explain it to Pearl. I saw you talking to her just now." Jealously rippled along the edges of Urchin's accusing tone, to which Ariel returned with a rebuff.

"You were _spying_ on me?"

"Nuh-uh. I wasn't spying. You were just in my line of sight." Urchin shrugged, but there was a smirk across his features that irked Ariel.

"Spying on people isn't _nice_, Urchin."

"Awe, heck." The boy returned, crossing his arms over his chest. "Like you're should talk about being nice. You disappeared for three days and took _Sebastian_ with you."

"There's nothing wrong with Sebastian." Ariel defended quickly, surprised at how quick she was to go to her crab friend's aide.

Where was he anyway? And Flounder? Oh, that's right. She remembered seeing Sebastian clamp onto Flounder's fins and swim on ahead the night before, after her father had found her desperately searching for her beloved.

"Yeah, except that he tattled about your human treasures. And you still took _him_ on your adventure!" Frustrated, Urchin pushed back his helmet again, only this time he did so in a much rougher manner.

"It wasn't an adventure this time. I wasn't out playing." Ariel corrected, earning her an irritated glance. "Everything happened in-the-moment. Everything was_ real_."

"Yeah well, I still would've wanted to go." Urchin grumbled, but Ariel could see that his mood was lightening up. It was obvious he still thought that she'd been on some silly exploring mission, not out trying to win a heart and her life.

"Well, next time I'll let you tag along. Now can I please get through?" Ariel wondered, weaving a red strand around her finger. Her voice was on the patronizing side, as though she was talking to a young child.

Urchin's eyes grew wide. "You're acting like one of _them_, Ariel."

"Acting like one of who?" Ariel blinked in confusion, her brows furrowing at the off throwing comment.

"You're acting like a _grownup_!" Urchin accused, suddenly much more suspicious of his one time friend.

Ariel's eyes grew wide as well, feeling the comment like it was a slap in the face. If there was one thing all children feared, it was growing into an adult. Ariel, however, had bigger concerns on her mind.

"Let me through, Urchin." She said as menacingly as she could, allowing for her eyes to narrow into slits. The boy shook his head fiercely.

"Not until you tell me what you were doing!" Ariel was about to come up with a quick retort, when the blonde boy cut her off again. "I searched everywhere for you, Ariel. I thought something really bad had happened." Pausing as he started to gain anger, Urchin looked up at Ariel with a furious expression.

"You owe me for saving your tail on all those adventures! So just tell me what you were doing and then I'll—!"

"I fell in love, Urchin, that's what I did!" Ariel finally shrieked, her own temper flaring. "I got transformed into a human and fell in love with a human man named Eric, okay? And yes, he loves me back!"

Urchin's jaw hung low. It looked like he wanted to speak, but found no words coming out. Ariel gave a frustrated sigh, impatiently pushing her hair away from her face. If only Eric's kingdom was located literally right above Atlantica. Then she could have swum straight to it without all these distractions.

"Can I go through now, or do I need to repeat myself?" Temper still flaring, Ariel crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at Urchin.

Only someone who was like her little brother could make her act in such a manner. She was usually so tender-hearted, so easy to help someone out, but she didn't feel the need to keep having to explain her actions. She was sixteen years old, and quite old enough to be treated like an _adult_.

Suddenly, something flashed in the Urchin's eyes. It looked a lot like jealousy, which put Ariel in a confused tizzy. Why would he be jealous? She hadn't done anything to make him so. Perhaps he was still hurt she hadn't taken him along?

She sighed. "Look, Urchin, this is silly. We're friends; we shouldn't be fighting. And I promise, if I ever go through a similar…" She paused, searching for the right word "…_experience_ again, I promise you'll be the first one to know."

Urchin's eyes narrowed upon the princess, and for a moment, she was reminded why he was called _Urchin_. A sea-creature that looked harmless enough, but could shoot out poison the second you touched it. And right now, she felt like she was playing catch with it.

"I'm not mad that you went off without me." The boy claimed, his tone angry and hurtful. "I'm mad because _it's not fair_!"

Ariel winced once his voice rose to a yell, but tried to keep her wits about her. Innocently, she asked the first thing that came to her mind.

"What's not fair?

"I _like_ you, Ariel!" Urchin finally exploded, thrusting his arms out in a manner that made his armor once again slide down on him.

"Oh. Well, I like you too, Urchin." Ariel said confidently, although that confidence slipped once she saw the glare on her friend's face.

"I _mean_," He started, smacking his reddening features in frustration "I like-like you, Ariel. I have since the day we met! I think…" Here he gulped, trying to keep his growing voice from cracking "I think I might even love you. And it's not fair that I've liked you all this time, and then out of nowhere this other guy, this human, is the one who _you _like!"

Ariel's eyes grew colossal. Her almost-brother…had a crush on her? All this time? It was…shocking, to say the least. She'd never suspected a thing, and now here he was, blatantly stating it for the ocean to hear!

Idly, she wondered what her life would be like with Urchin. They could wait a few years, and then get married. Her father would definitely be pleased with it; he hated humans and Urchin was already like a son to him. Her sisters wouldn't mind either, she knew, because he was like the little brother they never had. In fact, they would probably rave about the union, saying that they had called it from the start. The people in the kingdom would think it was a cute love-story, growing up together and then falling in love.

But Ariel?

Well…every time the girl tried to imagine herself happy, it wouldn't work. She could see everyone else around her smiling, but her features would be littered with unpleasant frowns and hurt sighs. Why? Well, it was because she knew that there was already someone out there, someone who had captured her heart in ways she'd never thought possible. She could learn to love Urchin as a brother, but never as a husband. No, that could only be reserved for one person.

"Urchin," Ariel started out slowly, trying to make this as painless as possible.

"Urchin, I love you…" Seeing his face light up at the thought made her heart constrict, because she knew what was coming "…as a friend. My real love belongs to Eric, though. I'm sorry."

She felt bad, she truly did. Looking back, this all made sense now, but at the time it had been impossible to even comprehend such a thought. Something akin to a hopeless look passed over Urchin's face, and then an emotion Ariel had just recently become acquainted with; heartbreak.

Could her morning get any worse?

"Yea, well," The boy started, struggling to gain control over his unyielding voice. "You know what? You really _are_ a grownup. And if you're going to act all hoity-toity then I don't want to be your friend anymore!"

The words sliced Ariel like she had not known they would. Her eyes grew warm, and she could feel her nose turning red, but she knew all her tears had been shed for her love. Her love…it was the only thought she was able to cling to, the only rational thing in her mind.

In the few hours, Ariel had nearly died at the hands of a Sea-Witch, she still had no clue where her beloved was, and had just had what could be described as the worst night/morning of her life. She was in absolutely no mood to think this all through. The only thing that still made sense to her was Eric, and she had yet to even find him, even though that's what she'd originally set out to do. She was irrational, angry, and hurt. A dangerous combination if there ever was one.

"Let. Me. Through. Urchin."

Her voice came out through her teeth, as anger was the final emotion settling over her. And she'd acquired her father's temper…well, she was not exactly in the mindset to be questioned.

"No! No one's gonna get through me!" Urchin declared, puffing out his chest and trying to look as convincing as possible with his helmet slopping over his eyes.

However, it was his victorious smirk that sent Ariel over the edge.

The girl gave an angry shriek, feeling herself literally boil over. The emotions she'd been holding back were leaking out little by little, and for a few seconds, she felt herself consumed by an immense and blind anger towards the boy she'd once cherished as an adopted brother. Tightening up her hand into a fist, the girl slammed it into his stomach before he knew what was happening.

Of course, he doubled over in pain almost immediately.

Ariel gave a satisfactory huff, her anger satiated for now with that one blow. With Urchin disposed at the second, she swam past him and through the exit of Atlantica at a speed that would have had timekeepers resetting their clocks.


	4. Chapter 4: To Sacrifice for Love

_**Another update! Sorry about the long wait-I've been super busy lately. School's winding down now, and it seems like every teacher decides it would be the perfect time to start piling up on the homework! Anyway, as always please, please, please review! **_

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Ariel breached the surface not five minutes later. Her breathing was still erratic from her all out sprint. Adrenaline pumping in her ears, she allowed herself a few seconds of rest.

In this short time period, she could _feel_ how the sea breeze gently toyed with her hair. It was a heartwarming experience, something she hadn't had a chance to take in since she was first turned into a human. For just a second, she could feel all her inhibitions go away, and she was a little girl exploring the world around her.

"Stop thinking nonsense, Ariel." She softly berated herself. "You have to find Eric."

Determination rising within the girl, she ignored the complaints from her sore tail and tired body. Her heart rose to her throat as she looked left and right, unsure of where to start off. Suddenly, it seemed like the simple plan to find how Eric was doing was looking a lot more daunting.

Closing her eyes a second, the girl tried to think, retrace her fin-strokes. Now, the last she'd seen of Eric was his tiny figure in a white shirt jumping off the ship that killed the Sea-Witch, right? Yes, that was correct, because the next thing she could remember was the water coming down on her from all sides. If she'd been human, that would have surely killed her, because even as a mermaid she'd had to claw her way to the surface.

The surface! That's right, humans needed air to breathe! So if she was a human who could somehow navigate the water with her legs, and she was exhausted beyond all repair, the only reasonable place to go would be land, wouldn't it? Yes, that made sense!

Only, there was one teensy problem.

_Where_ on land would Eric be?

Huffing in frustration, Ariel opened her eyes. She couldn't remember anything that would have told her where she and Eric had been last night. When one is concerned with trying to stay alive, it's a bit difficult to look around. Even when she'd been all the way up, clutching onto the crown on the Sea-Witch's head, she only had one or two seconds to register what was happening before Eric had told her on the count of three they would jump.

"Where _are_ you Eric?" She wondered aloud, groaning to herself.

Swimming forward, she decided to find a rock. Perhaps if she was elevated higher she'd have a clearer view of the shoreline, and where Eric was. Or if he was still there, of course. A part of her felt panic start arise in her chest, but she pushed it down along with every other feeling. She had to keep her mind straight if she wanted to find him.

Sighing as she reached the rock she had once watched him from, she quickly hoisted herself up. The rising sun proved to be a nuisance, and she had to shade her eyes quickly so that they could adjust to the strong light. It took about a minute before she could see clearly again, and as she was looking straight forward, she did the only thing she could in a moment like this.

She blinked.

Her heart lurched, and suddenly she was gasping, clutching onto the rock so tightly that her knuckles turned white. There was no way it was this easy. Her entire morning had been difficult already, so there was absolutely no way this could be happening. It was far too easy. It had to be a mirage, a trick of the light, something other than what her mind was screaming at her.

And yet, Eric was still there, sprawled out on the sand.

Ariel felt her eyes grow wide, and her fingers grip the rock even tighter than before. Although she kept telling herself to move, to go check to see if he was still…if he was still alive, she couldn't. Her body was numb, and when she saw that he wasn't moving, she felt her heart start to break. Tears prickled in the corners of her eyes.

All of this had been for nothing. She'd risked her life, her kingdom, her family, her friends, everything, and in the end, it mattered not. She'd only succeeded in killing Eric. She wasn't even sure what to do now. She was shattered, she was incomplete, she was always going to be one half short. Her other half had passed alongside her beloved.

Eighteen was an awfully young age to die.

The worst thought out of all this was wasn't even that it was her fault. She knew that it should be, and that she should be weeping because she'd caused all this, but she couldn't. She was cried out already. At this point, the only thing she could do was tremble and think about how the worst thing about this dreadful situation was that she'd never been able to tell him she loved him.

She had to be the worst, most terrible, most dreadful, most pathetic creature that had ever—

Eric twitched in the sand, and then restlessly turned on his side. The surprise that overtook Ariel at that nearly made her lose her balance on the rock.

"Aah!" Ariel found herself crying out suddenly, the only sound she was able to make.

Why was it that in novels heroines always cried out the names of their beloveds when they found them still alive? Ariel could barely get her thoughts in order, let alone speak about how great this was. And oh, this was great.

For all intends and purposes, it seemed that Eric wasn't dead. He wasn't even unconscious, or injured, or anything horrible. No, it was quite the contrary. Eric appeared to be…to be _sleeping_.

The sigh of relief that escaped Ariel would have made her cry if she could.

From where she was, she had a great view of Eric. She supposed it to be a great coincidence that she'd chosen to come to this rock to try and spot him. However, something deep inside her told the girl it was more than a coincidence. It was love.

Eric looked weary, from what she could tell. It made sense, considering that she felt how he looked. There were a few nasty bruises she could easily spot from this distance, and she knew there were probably more she couldn't see. He wasn't bleeding though, and she considered that a miracle from all that had happened.

Unconsciously, Ariel allowed her gripped fingers to go slack and started to tug at them restlessly. She was battling her inner self on the topic of whether she should go to him or not. Her heart, of course, jumped at the prospect. The more rational side of her refused to even go near.

Her mind had a point though. She was going to be a mermaid the rest of her life; it'd just make the separation from Eric harder if she was able to touch him. Her heart ached at the decision, but…she knew it was the only way.

Staring out at her one, true love, Ariel gave a deep, hopeless sigh.

Her heart went out to him. She'd caused so much pain and anguish. In trying to achieve her dream, she'd lost sight of those who truly cared for her. She'd been willing to sacrifice herself easily for just the chance to get what she wanted, but she hadn't realized how badly her actions reflected on everyone she loved. Especially Eric.

Eric. Before she'd saved him from drowning, before he'd ever looked at her with love in his blue eyes, he'd been completely clueless towards mermaids, sea witches, and overprotective fathers. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve someone who loved him, and then almost killed him. He was far too good for the likes of her.

Perhaps it would have been better if he'd fallen for that princess of whatever-land anyway. At least then he wouldn't be out here after a bad night, turning on his back in his agitated sleep. The very thought of Eric being with steadier, prettier, not-so-danger prone girl made Ariel's shoulders slump miserably.

Even _she_ hated herself in this moment.

Not too far away from Ariel, Triton watched his youngest daughter carefully. It was so rare that he ever saw her this way. Usually Ariel was bursting with life, her tail swishing through the water as she laughed. Now it just looked like someone had sucked out everything that made her so wonderful, and replaced it with a lingering depression.

As any parent knows, seeing one's child hurting is like having that same hurt inside you, only tenfold. As a parent, he was supposed to protect his daughter, make sure such hurt never touched her. After his wife had died, he'd shut himself away emotionally, partly because he did not want to burden his daughters with his agony. Despite what Attina and Ariel thought, he'd only ever wanted to keep them safe.

Ariel's eyes lit up for a fraction of a second, as though an idea bounced behind those inquisitive blue orbs. Then, she blinked and she was back to being morose.

What he would give to know what she was thinking, Triton thought to himself. Then following her gaze, he exchanged a look with Sebastian and would have bet his entire kingdom that he already knew.

"She really does love him, doesn't she, Sebastian?" A sigh came out from his lips before he could put a stop to it. He knew the answer, of course. But somewhere, deep inside him, he was hoping he was wrong.

"Mhm." Sebastian answered, nodding his head slightly and smiling to himself. "Well, it's like I always say, your majesty," He started, quickly stealing a look at the King to make sure he was listening.

"Children got to be free to lead dere own lives." The crustacean finished, crossing his claws and rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

He could remember when the late Queen Athena would read aloud bedtime stories to the princesses. They always followed a familiar pattern, and the Queen always ended her stories with a happily ever after, even if she had to make one up. When he'd questioned the woman about it, she'd looked over at her daughters, smiled enigmatically and said, "_The world could always use more dreamers_."

Through all of Ariel's crazy adventures that he'd been tangled in, and all the times he'd risked his sanity (not to mention job) for her, he reminded himself of what the Queen had said. Then he'd look over at Ariel, shake his head, smile, and go along.

"_You_ always say that?" Triton asked skeptically, looking down with raised brows at Sebastian. The crab, too deep in his previous thoughts, could only manage a sheepish smile.

The slight amusement the king had at this left when he looked back at his redheaded daughter. Attina's earlier words rang back through his mind. Yes, she was right. Looking now at his Ariel, he knew that she'd never be happy as a simple mermaid.

She desired what Athena had wanted before she'd been forced into an arranged marriage. She wanted adventure, freedom…and the choice to do what _she_ wanted to do with her life.

His wife had passed away eleven years ago, his eldest daughter was wise beyond her years, and his youngest daughter was in love. It seemed that only he, the King of Atlantica, a father to several daughters, and Triton only to himself, was the only one who still remembered waking up in a crowded bed with seven sleepy-eyed little girls and a beautiful wife muttering threats under her breath about what she'd do to him if he so dared to wake the children.

Triton wished he could have traded the entire sea to have just one more moment like that.

But he could not. No, and he would not either, he realized. To do so would take away every other glorious, giggling memory that had lead his baby girl to find her one true love.

"Oh," Triton sighed deeply, hurting, but comforted by the knowledge that his late wife would have been proud of his decision. "Then I guess, there's just one problem left." Triton looked down at Sebastian, as though waiting for his response.

Really though, he wasn't waiting. He knew the script. He knew this story. It was time for him to finally accept what was every father's downfall.

"And what's dat, your majesty?" Sebastian questioned, thrown by the King's statement.

Triton pressed his eyes shut for barely a second as Sebastian spoke, letting loose another sigh. For the briefest of moments, he found himself a younger man.

In his arms was his newest, precious, downy-peach-haired-wrapped-in-a-pink-blanket little baby. Then, the memory shifted, and he was being bombarded by squeals of 'Daddy' as she swam into his arms and clutched onto him as though she hadn't seen him in months, instead of a few hours.

There was another shift now. She was struggling with a difficult math homework problem, he finds himself whispering encouragement, and she finishes this new _division_ problem correctly, beaming at him with that smile. Once again the memory shifts. She's home early from tide-school, crying about the mean nature of teenage girls, and he finds himself grabbing her hand and taking her for a ride in his chariot.

The last memory now. It's the night previous, he hasn't seen her in three days, and after all that's happened, he finds her babbling hysterically. She looks at him, terrified, awaiting an awful punishment and letting her rushed apologies come out before she has time to stream them through her mind. For a second, all he can do is look at her. Then, he gently places the trident down and hugs her so tight that she can't breathe.

In a split-second, all these memories flashed through Triton's mind. He's gone through his daughter's entire life, and yet, only a blink of an eye has passed. The irony is not lost on the king as he grips his trident firmly, forcing himself to steady his voice before speaking.

"How much I'm going to miss her."

Sebastian turned to the King, clearly confused this time as to what he meant, but Triton paid him no mind. Inwardly, he gathered the necessary strength to finally let go of his once peach-haired-pink-blanket baby from the thought that all those wonderful memories he had of his child will one day be Ariel's.

She will be a fantastic mother.

And he knew that he could not wait until that day.

Tilting his trident a certain way, the thing came to life. Its glow proved that its power was ready to be harnessed, as though it didn't even need to rest from all its use the night before. Without anything that would have held him back, Triton let the tip of his trident gently touch the ocean's surface. He watched carefully as the water started to glow gold, making a sort of path as it went straight to Ariel.

Still perched upon her rock, Ariel watched with bated breaths as Eric's body started to wake. This is it, she thought. He was going to see her now, and they'd go from there about what to do. She found herself worrying over every part of their relationship. Her father had summed it up nicely; she was a mermaid, he was a human. How could this work? How _would_ this work?

Suddenly, the girl felt as though the bottom of a starfish had been attached to her tail. She knew the feeling; her tail had fallen asleep. She ignored it however, determined to ride out any uncomfortable feelings for just a few more seconds of seeing Eric. Besides, it always went away after a few minutes.

But the tingling wasn't subsiding. In fact, it was growing by the second. There was this warmth attached to the tingling as well, a warmth that felt oddly…soothing? Like ice on a burn, except, she felt no pain. It was just like the muscles in her tail were relaxing to the point where she wasn't sure if she could even _swim _anymore.

What in the…?

The mermaid finally forced herself to think about what was going on. She turned her head around, confusion lighting up her features. Her tail was glowing.

Her tail was _glowing_!

Ariel's jaw dropped, her mouth forming a perfect 'O'. She'd seen this glow before; she knew this type of glow. What if it was the Sea-Witch, come back from the dead? For the fewest of milliseconds, she inhaled and prepared to scream in a panic that rivaled none other. And then rationality kicked in when, from her peripheral vision, she saw a large merman.

She put two and two together, and a smile curled at her lips.

Daddy.

Looking up, Ariel felt her lips widen in excitement. Her father's bittersweet smile confirmed what she had hoped. Without a second thought, Ariel jumped from the rock with a whoop of joy. A second later, her body cut through the water, and the last thing that could be seen was the splash of a foot.

Triton smiled warmly, sadly, and with a bit of a father's guilt as he looked towards the spot where Ariel had just disappeared from. The first time he's up on the surface in eleven years, and he loses someone else he loves. Figures.

Eric groaned to himself, managing to sit up. His head and every other part of his body got a shot of pain at the movement.

"What happened?" The boy muttered, trying hard to soothe the pounding his skull was currently feeling.

Putting his palm to his forehead, he tried to recall what great idea had landed him here on the sand. He looked towards the sea to get his thoughts all together, blinking once or twice at the brightness. The amber waves looked beautiful at this time of day, and the calm sea looked…wait, scratch that, there was something odd about the sea.

A redheaded maiden was slowly coming…out from the sea. His lips curved into a smile before he could stop them. Why was he smiling? Surely this was the oddest thing he'd ever witnessed, a girl literally rising from the sea.

Did he say girl? He meant beautiful young woman. She had on this dress that was…was it _sparkling_? And it wasn't just any sparkle either; it reminded him of the sparkle the sun had on the sea. Her silhouette beneath it spoke wonders, and the smile on her red lips was enough to melt Eric's heart. Her long red hair was perfectly straight; each strand looking like it had been arranged by an angel.

And amazingly enough, Ariel wasn't wet at all.

Wait, hold on. Eric found his mind started to reel at the familiar name, trying to place it. Ariel…? No, just _Ariel_, his mind told him. He could remember, hazily a voice whispering the name in his ear. He wasn't even sure why, but somehow, he found himself dying to try and…and…and kiss the girl!

Oh, _Ariel_!

Ariel was walking towards him, a smile that most definitely rivaled the mystery of Mona Lisa lit upon her face. She stretched out her arms, eyes twinkling and saying more than words could ever tell.

Eric wasted no time jumping up from the sand, though his body complained productively. It was all he could do to hold back a yip of happiness. He ran towards Ariel, no…not just Ariel…_his_ Ariel. Her new feet never touched dry land because Eric reached her in three giant strides.

A giddy laugh erupted from Ariel's throat as she was lifted off the ground by her waist, and twirled her around in the air. Finally, she was placed back onto her feet. She found her arms slowly sliding away from Eric's neck. However, he grabbed her right wrist, keeping her hand steady upon his booming heart.

They both took a conscious step back, relishing the moment. She stood on her tip-toes, blue eyes positively dancing. Eric gave her a cheeky, dimpled smile, as though he was a mischievous little boy. Raising one eyebrow slightly, it was as though Ariel was saying 'Well? What now?'

Suddenly, she felt Eric's warm hand that was on the top of her back – when had he put _that_ there? – gently start to push her towards him. She took quick step, and underneath where her foot fell, was Eric's. For once their respective lives, they did not argue, did not try to change the flow, did not have a smart comment, did not do anything but go along with, well, biology.

It was amazing how Ariel's head tilted just the right way, and how Eric's lips found their mark without any guidance or hesitation. And when they kissed….it was like, floating on a cloud, so far from land, from sea, from everything. There were no more distractions, no deadlines, nothing that could tear them apart. When they kissed, fireworks lit up around them, sparkling prettily.

Nothing could be brighter, though, than the thought of how this was truly worth waiting eighteen and sixteen years for.


	5. Chapter 5: Leaving Behind Confusion

_**Hey guys, it's me again! Today I finished writing my research paper for school (9 and a half pages in total, can you believe it?), packed for a trip, picked up a bunch of unhealthy snacks for the trip, and I decided to post up a chapter instead of study for my two tests tomorrow. I hope you guys appreciate what I go through for you! So this chapter is insanely long, I know, but there really wasn't a part that I could cut it at without ruining the integrity of it. Let me know what you think!**_

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Eric's lips slowly released their hold. Ariel felt her own doing the same, and drowsily, she gazed up at him. In any other scenario, she would have been as red as her hair, too embarrassed for mere words that she was being held this close to a boy. Strangely though, this felt…right.

It was Eric who regained his voice first. He found his hand slackening from her back, and then rising to rub his lips. He could still feel something akin to an electric shock on them. Then he looked down at Ariel, seeing a sort of unfocused smile on her lips. He said the first words that came to mind.

"You're a good kisser."

He could have slapped himself. Out of everything romantically related one could tell a female, that's what he chose. The blush rose on his cheeks faster than ever before, and wasn't even sure what to say to rectify this situation.

"Thank you." Ariel found herself saying, too happy to care about what he said. There was even light laugh at the end of her words, as though it didn't matter to her.

Both teens simply stared at one another, unsure of what to say from this point. Though their eyes were wary, the slightly goofy grins they both wore made up for any hard feelings. Not quite sure what to do now, Ariel suddenly found that she was throwing herself against Eric. She gripped at him tightly, savoring every beat of his heart and hoping to never let him go again.

"I'm so sorry." Ariel found herself whispering, almost trembling at her words. "I caused so many problems, and I nearly got you," she paused, looking up at him with those huge blue eyes, "…_killed_. I was so scared that you weren't alive anymore and that I never got the chance to tell you that I love you and that I've loved you from the second I saw you playing with Max on your ship and I'm almost positive—"

"Whoa, hey, hold up!" Eric ordered, cutting off her winded sentences when she started to literally get blue in the face. Ariel nodded, slowly regaining her breath. Eric sighed.

"Don't apologize either, alright? I mean, last night was…" He pushed a hand through his already messy hair, trying to find a specific word "Well, it was crazy. But I thought…I-I thought I'd lost you too. I mean, I know we haven't known either long, but I love you too, and I swear, I'm not going to let you slip through my fingers again."

There was a sudden pressure against her arms, Ariel was starting to realize. Looking slightly down, she found that the pressure was Eric's own arms tightening around her just as hard as she was clutching onto him. His bare, sun-kissed skin pressing against hers felt like an shock straight to her heart. A new emotion rose up in her, something that frightened and excited her at the same time.

"You love me…too?" She managed to say, trying to push away her little girl giddiness and that new emotion for a more refined persona.

Eric nodded seriously, a smile managing to crack across his face. "I'm not exactly the best at this whole 'romantic' thing…but I _do_ love you. Actually, I'm…I'm _wonderstruck_ by you."

"Wonderstruck." Ariel repeated, almost in a state of shock. Eric nodded sincerely, almost unsurely.

In a flash, a smile appeared once again on Ariel's lovely features. With a certain gaiety in her motions, she threw her arms over Eric's head and reached up to kiss him as hard as she could. All her worries and inhibitions faded in that kiss, which was returned almost hesitantly back by her beloved. He seemed more taken by surprise than anything, but the dazed look disappeared from him a moment after they broke off their moment.

"Yeah." Eric drawled out, a bewildered amusement creeping into his voice. "Wonderstruck."

Ariel giggled at the new word. It seemed so perfect for how she was feeling. She looked down, wiggling her toes in the water and pressing back even more excited giggles. Her smile was brighter than the rising sun, and following her line of sight, Eric, at first, smiled as well.

Then his smile faded. It was replaced a frustrated frown. He let go of Ariel, causing her to look up in surprise, as he ran his hands anxiously through his dark, disheveled hair.

"So…uh…" He cleared his dry throat—not an easy or painless task, mind you—awkwardly, trying to find the right way to say this. "You're a …a…"

"A mermaid." Ariel filled in, confirming his train of thought that last night had not been in fact a horrible nightmare but a cruel reality. She sighed. He panicked.

"Right." Eric answered, with his laugh not entirely all there. "You're a…a…" He stumbled over the word a second time, finding it hard to come to terms that this was not in fact fiction.

Again, Ariel stepped in without so much as blinking or letting her arms slide away from his neck. "A mermaid."

"Right," he repeated again, this time more agitated than before "…with a tail."

"Yes." Ariel said slowly, nodding her head to the sound of her words. She was trying to be supportive; after all, it wasn't every day the woman you loved surprised you with such a big thing.

"But now you don't have a…tail." It was a question set to a statement kind of tone, really. It was as though he couldn't believe his own eyes.

Ariel fought back a grin. "Yes."

"A-And Vanessa, last night," he noticed her face curiously darken at the mere mention of that name "and the-the wedding." He swallowed, but that didn't keep his nerves from getting the best of him again.

"And you were…you were" here he motioned something that sort of flowed from the legs down, like an odd tail "…and then she was," he motioned again, this time for something fatter and wider with odd things sticking out from every direction "And she was pointing that at you…and I-I said 'jump!'...then the ship j-just…_exploded_!"

"Yes." Ariel answered slowly once more, figuring that most of what he was saying probably made more sense in his head. She watched him cautiously, waiting to see the tell-tale sign that he'd gone off the brink.

Swallowing again, Eric felt the jitters reach his voice even before he started speaking. "W-What…happened?"

"My father finally understood that I love and will do _anything_ to be with you," Ariel said carefully, making sure Eric's eyes were upon hers at all times. "So he…_allowed_ me to become human."

"O-Oh." Eric choked out, because he didn't know what else to say.

Ariel nodded quickly. Then she started frowning. This was followed be her biting her lip surreptitiously (because she knew it wasn't becoming of a princess do to so). Then she gasped in such a manner that Eric nearly jumped ten feet in the air.

"My father!" She cried out, eyes growing wide once again. "I almost forgot!"

She immediately started to disentangle herself away from Eric. Before he could question what she was talking about, she had turned on her heel and started to run, yes, literally run, back into the salt water. The only thing that crossed Eric's mind when he saw this was the memory of her splashing pathetically in the shallow pond.

That's when realization hit him.

_She couldn't swim._

"Wait!" Eric cried after the girl, speeding after her.

He couldn't form any other words to say after her. He just knew that she needed help, like, she was going to _drown_ if he didn't do something, help. Under ten seconds later, spurred on by a rush of adrenaline, he managed to reach her. Just as he was extending an arm to grab her and hold her before she ran off again, she slipped through his very fingers and went further out.

"Daddy!" Ariel's called out, the water mid-way up her ribcage now and rising the further out she went.

Eric cursed under his breath, keeping his head low so that he could move faster. Not only did Ariel seem to have a sudden death wish, she was also hallucinating about seeing her father. Oh, and she just so happened to be the girl he irrevocably loved. Wonderful.

He followed her quickly, but he was forced to break suddenly to keep from crashing into…into…

Eric's jaw dropped

Who was _that?_

Ariel was currently hugging, quite tightly, a large man. A very, very large man. A bare-chested man who was holding that trident thing Vanessa had the night previous, and the very crown he had literally jumped out of. Those items had been at least fifteen times bigger back then though.

From what Eric could tell, Ariel had wound her arms tightly against this gentleman. Her face had buried itself in his long, sophisticated looking beard. The man had an almost guilty smile across his features, and he had wrapped his own strong arms around Ariel's small frame.

Just as Eric was about to politely ask the man to please step away (and stop touching) the girl he loved, he heard Ariel give a light sniffle. It sounded like she was holding back tears as she hugged this man. The sound made the boy stop in his own tracks and reassess the fact that Ariel was, in fact, single.

"Th-Thank you Daddy." Ariel's voice whispered, just loud enough so that Eric could hear it.

Ah, so she _was_ crying! She had also called this man 'Daddy'. Was this then her father that she'd run back into the water (and risked her life) to see? Actually, now that Eric looked at the man, he _was_ a lot older than Ariel. There was also enough resemblance to the girl in the man's face to put Eric at a lot easier rest.

This was only the girl's father, odd as it is, after all.

Finally releasing Ariel from the hug, Eric watched as the older man gently cupped her face lovingly in his hand. Then he looked warily over at Eric, who was trying _really_ hard to keep his features straight, so that he could at least present the outward attitude that this was all completely normal.

Triton couldn't help himself; he _had _to give a chuckle. After all, this was only a boy. No more than twenty years of age, he had been the cause of all this commotion. Personally, the king would always believe that there was no one good enough for his daughters, be them human or merman However, he did have to admit, since this lad appeared to be clean-cut, had saved Ariel, the oceans, and all of Atlantica, he was alright enough.

"So _you're_ the human that saved my daughter, and my kingdom." Triton acknowledged, warily looking over the boy. "I owe you a sincere thank you for that act of courage, young man. I doubt it was an easy task."

Eric felt his throat constrict with a lack of saliva. He was the …_human_? Slightly unfocused, he dropped his eyes to the man's lower half, trying hard to keep onto his sanity when he realized the man had a tail. And what was all that about saving this man's kingdom? Considering he was wearing the crown…did that mean that this man was a _king_?

"_King Triton?" _

"_Why, ruler of the merpeople lad!" _

The old memory surfaced in his mind quickly, and Eric was unable to really nitpick it. All that stuck out was that name, that title, King Triton. If this man was thanking him for saving his kingdom, and that kingdom (assumingly) had merpeople in it…

Had he fallen in love with _**the**_ King Triton's daughter?!

"It was…It was no problem, sir." Eric managed to choke out finally, dumbstruck by this revelation.

"Still. It's not a matter to be taken lightly; know that you have the sincere gratitude from me, King Triton of Atlantica." Triton returned to the somewhat overcome boy. He noticed Ariel intertwine her hand with his. It made the father narrow his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Eric finally apologized himself, blurting out the words as they came to his mind. He ran his hands through his hair."It's just…this is still not really registering in my head. I mean, after yesterday…"

Everyone grimaced at that. Eric cleared his throat, trying again. "I mean, I'm just kind of…everywhere right now."

"I understand." Ariel was the first to speak, before anyone else had the chance to do so. She squeezed his hand as hard as she could. "It's overwhelming all at one time to process, I know. Just ask whatever you need to for this to be easier."

Eric nodded faintly, signaling that the idea worked enough for him. "Okay." He took in a deep breath, steadying himself, before trying again. "So, you're a…mermaid?"

"Yes…and no." Ariel said slowly, frowning as she realized that this question was more complex than she'd thought. He'd asked this earlier, and she'd replied with the easiest answer she could, but now it seemed like that wasn't enough.

"Perhaps I can explain?" Triton said aloud, raising an eyebrow slightly. Ariel shot him a thankful look and nodded. Eric just seemed confused.

"I'm sure you saw enough of the trident's power, used for evil and destruction, last night, correct?" Triton waited until he saw Eric give another faint nod before he continued on. "Well, the trident can also be used for better purposes, depending on who is wielding it."

Eric blinked, frowning deeply and shaking his head, although the pain that caused him was incredible. "I'm afraid I don't follow, sir."

"The magic of the trident is subjective. Evil people use it for evil purposes, as you saw last night, however, good people can use it just as easily for good purposes." Triton tried his best to explain, but he could easily tell that it was falling short with the boy.

"I'm still confused." Eric confessed.

The king sighed. He wasn't used to having to explain the powers of the trident to someone. His daughters had grown up around it, so their questions were little to none. Almost all Atlanticans just took it at face value, never looking in more than what they had learned in school. So having to speak about the reality of the trident to someone, especially a _human_, was not exactly easy for Triton to do.

"The trident has been in Atlantican history since the beginning; it's handed down through the generations to each new ruler. With…experience, its power can be harnessed to do deeds that can affect all the oceans, not just the kingdom."

Something flickered in Eric's eyes; he was finally starting to catch on to this. It was a bit…well, crazy, but in a way, it made sense. After all, he'd seen first-hand last night how it's true power. That didn't mean, however, that he hadn't any questions.

He cleared his throat, eyes staying focused on Triton. "But if you need experience to be able to actually handle it, then how did that…_creature_ use it so easily?"

Triton frowned, realizing that this would have to go more in depth than he'd thought. "That creature would be my older sister, Ursula. To make a long story short, she was supposed to inherit the throne years ago, she didn't, and she's been out for revenge ever since."

Triton shrugged it off, his face not commenting on his mixed feelings in all this. After all, no matter what, Ursula had still been his sister. Although growing up he'd always been closer to his younger sister, Morgana (who, regrettably, had followed in her sister's fin-strokes and was banished from Atlantica), he still tried to remember Ursula as she'd once been, a little mergirl with a serious, but harmless, personality.

"She was your sister?" Eric asked, and watching Triton nod, he felt a rather sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Oh. I'm sorry I killed her."

Triton was taken by surprise at Eric's sudden statement. There was no excuse in the boy's words. The woman had enchanted him, almost forced him to marry her, then tried to kill him _and_ the girl he loved. That seemed reason enough for Eric to destroy her. Yet, the boy didn't say anything about that. He simply accepted responsibility for what had occurred.

"She would have killed me." Ariel finally spoke up, softly. All heads swiveled her in direction. "She had the trident right there…she was just about the shoot …"

Her eyes huge, Ariel shuddered at the memory, before she looked up at Eric with a determined expression. "Don't be sorry. She deserved it."

"Ari-elle is right." Sebastian said, his first words in this entire exchange. "She was horrible. It's good for everyone and everyting dat she's not around anymore."

Eric's eyes widened a fraction of an inch, although he did an extremely good job keeping his mini-freak-out inward. Honestly, he'd met King Triton today, found out the mermaid he loved was no longer a mermaid, and was just realizing that there was a long, unfortunate history that spanned way beyond him with that Vanes—Urusla woman.

"Besides that," Triton waved off all the talk of Ursula, trying to put it at rest finally. "I would assume that you're still wondering how Ariel is no longer a mermaid?"

Eric nodded quickly, his throat suddenly dry. He felt Ariel squeeze his hand…hard. Like she was trying to tell him something, but she didn't want to say it aloud in front of her father and the crab (was that the same crab that had clamped onto that eel when the sea-creature had tried to drown him?).

"The trident can do amazing things, when a person knows what they're doing," Triton started, his words slow, precise. "And, since Ariel's heart is apparently here, on land, and not in the sea…I used the trident to transform her into a human."

"So she's a human…permanently?" Eric breathed, his eyes growing wide at this new prospect. For some reason, his mind had never fully come to the idea that Ariel might be able to be with him forever.

"Yes," Triton sighed heavily, "Permanently."

Unable to process this in its entirety, Eric simply stood there. His mouth was open to say something, but he couldn't remember having anything to say. Finally, it was Ariel who yanked his arm so hard that he was facing her. He didn't register the pain.

"That means I can stay with you, Eric." She said gently, her eyes serious, letting it sink in for him. "I can stay _here_, with _you_!" Her serious nature started falling to the wayside as her excitement rose higher and higher.

It was her laugh, her carefree, giddy laugh that finally broke Eric out of his trance. He felt himself start to laugh as well, his smile growing wider and wider. Then, out of the blue, he grabbed her waist and pressed his mouth against hers.

Shocked, Ariel could only weakly return the kiss. It didn't really matter anyway. She was more concerned with figuring out the emotions behind his sudden act of passion. Yes, there was definitely excitement, as well as relief she was sure, but there was something else, an emotion still so new to her. It was love.

A second later, Eric broke off from the kiss. He pressed his forehead against hers, grinning like an idiot. Blushing, Ariel giggled and made sure to escape from his hands, which were still wrapped around her waist. Yet, her hand and his were still intertwined, mostly because she refused to let it go.

Throughout all this, Triton glowered unhappily. He was a father after all. No matter what he did to let his daughter go for her dreams, she was still his daughter, and he still had a strong dislike for any boy who tried to get near her.

Finally not willing to take anymore, he cleared his throat, which garnered the attention of both teens. "This brings me to another point. I understand that you have…strong feelings for my daughter," Triton started, and Ariel's face went crimson.

The father ignored her, and continued on. "But you _will_ respect her, and if I hear that you hurt my little angelfish, so help me, I swear on all the oceans that I will _personally_ mount your head in my throne room. Do you understand?"

"Dad…" Ariel hissed, her cheeks heated up in pure embarrassment. "I _told_ you not to call me that anymore."

"I don't recall that conversation." Triton said mildly, earning him a scowl. He chuckled. Although he didn't get the chance to embarrass his daughters often, when he did so, he did it well.

"Don' go listenin' to the king, boy. He won't go hurtin' nothin'." Sebastian jumped in, earning him a glare from the king, who had wanted to keep the threat alive and well.

Eric, slightly amused, but much more fearful for his life, gave a slow nod. "Yes, sir. I understand."

He did truly get the angle where the king was coming from, and he didn't blame the man for being a bit overprotective. After all, Triton was giving up his daughter to a person he didn't know just because this is what she wanted. The boy had to give it to him; that act in itself took a lot of courage.

Then, Eric frowned slightly. He felt almost like he owed the king more than just his word that he'd take care of his daughter. But what?

If the answer had been a dog, it would have bitten him by now.

It also…well, it also sort of scared him. This was no trifling matter. For sure he didn't want to rush things, make Ariel feel forced into something. However…it _seemed_ like a good enough plan. And if she was going to be with him from now on…well, people had wagging tongues, and he would hate for any unfortunate gossip to reach her ears.

Also, he loved her. Like, a lot. So that had to count for something, right? Taking in a deep breath, Eric nodded to himself, before looking back at King Triton. He was almost…terrified.

"Erm…sir? Can I ask you an important question?"

Triton looked up, surprised, but nodded anyway, noticing the intent look the boy was giving him. A mixed feeling appeared in Triton's gut, a feeling he was hoping was and wasn't what he thought it would be. Before he was able to ask, however, Ariel looked up at the boy with puzzlement.

"Eric? What's wrong?" Ariel's brows pulled together even more, and she let a small frown grace her features.

"Just trust me." Eric replied, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Well?" Triton wondered, faintly noticing the agitation of the boy. Eric took in another deep breath, trying to steady himself.

"I love your daughter, very much, sir," Eric started, returning Ariel's beaming look with a smile. It gave him the confidence he needed to quickly blurt out what else he had to say. "I want to ask for your blessing to make Ariel my wife."

"Oh, mon!" Sebastian was the first to gasp, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

Ariel stood in utter shock at the words, before a slow, watery smile spread across her lips. Triton blinked a few times, trying to wrap his head around this incredible turn of events. Alright, well perhaps not incredible, but it was still a bit surprising.

Triton contemplated the question in his mind a moment, pretending to really think it through. He, of course, already knew what his answer had to be. Ariel would kill him if it was anything else. Not to mention his other six daughters wouldn't be too pleased, as it would mean he'd do the same when (_if_) their time came around. Still, he could enjoy a few more seconds of malicious glee in letting the boy sweat over it.

Then, when he felt he'd given Eric enough heart problems, he finally spoke. "Ariel, I will always love you as my little girl. Now, however, it's time for you to be loved as something more, by someone else, dear."

Making sure to have eye contact with Eric, Triton felt a thin, sad smile fill his features. This was one of the hardest days he'd ever had. "I give you my blessing to marry my daughter."

The grateful, relieved look from Eric almost made the king burst out laughing. Almost. He was still trying to stomach the fact that his baby would be getting married very soon.

"Thank you, sir." Eric answered, a sincerity attached to his words.

Turning to Ariel, he swallowed once, trying to make sure he did this right. He couldn't go on one knee, which was a shame, but after last night's events, he was sure his legs couldn't take that kind of pressure. He'd just have to do this standing up.

"So…how about it, Ariel? Will you marry me?" Suddenly, the boy stumbled back a few steps when Ariel literally threw herself at him.

Her lips were at his in seconds, her arms around his neck as she held onto him. She kissed him for all she was worth, as hard as she could so that he had his answer even before she'd said the words. After a few seconds, Ariel broke it off and looked up at Eric with stars shining in her eyes.

"Yes!" She cried out, nearly screeching. "Yes, yes, yes! Oh, my gosh! I _will_ marry you, Eric! I _will_!"

Eric's own face broke out into a smile. "Great!"

Oh no, Triton groaned to himself internally. Ariel looked about ready to go for another round of that kissing. And the boy didn't seem to mind one bit. Didn't the two of them at least realize that they were in front of her father? Couldn't they tone it down, at least for the time being? This wasn't exactly what he wanted to be seeing.

Triton shook his head. "I have to get back to the palace and explain all this to your sisters," He excused himself. "I'll see you soon, Ariel."

Despite knowing that this had all been coming since he'd first come up here this morning, Triton still felt his throat start to close up. His little angelfish was truly grown up. He was going to leave her behind. It was…it was a sobering thought.

Both Ariel and Eric seemed surprised at the sudden statement from the king that he was leaving. Eric's eyes shifted to the crab, who looked like he'd probably follow the king back to "the palace". So in a few minutes, he and Ariel would be left all alone.

"Are you sure you need to leave now, Daddy?" Ariel said, worry and a hint of panic in her voice. "I mean, are you sure you can't stay just a _few_ minutes longer and—"

"No, dear." Triton replied firmly, ending the discussion at that.

Ariel gave a sigh, frowning slightly, before she shook it off. After all, she'd just been turned human and she'd been proposed to! She should be happy, not let anything damper her spirit.

"Bye, Daddy!" She said brightly, hugging him tight for a few seconds. Triton returned the hug fiercely, before letting her go.

She wasn't crying, or even upset that she wouldn't be seeing him for awhile. It seemed like the reality of the situation still had not hit. It was overshadowed by the fact that she was engaged.

Triton gave a sad smile to his youngest daughter, cupping her face in his hand. She smiled back at him, although her smile was just very happy. He doubted that she truly understood what was happening.

"And wat about me mon? You hug ya fadder, but ya don't even say 'dank you' to the crab dat helped make all dis happen!" Sebastian cried out, jealousy hinting in his tone as he crossed his claws in front of his shell.

"Oh! I'm sorry Sebastian!" Ariel laughed, breaking free of her father once and for all as she scooped up her old friend.

Triton could have made a crab-cake out of the crustacean for interrupting the moment. Instead, he settled for rolling his eyes. He looked over warily at Eric, who gave him a helpless smile and shrug. It was at that moment that the king decided he could learn to like this human as his son-in-law.

"Thank you for _everything_," Ariel said sincerely, hugging her friend in the only way she could. "Really. You've been a great friend."

Sebastian thoughtfully looked over the girl, before sighing and a warm expression going onto his features. He stroked his claw against her cheek for a moment, his way of hugging her back, before she gently placed him back in the water.

"Anyting for you child." He said, and Ariel smiled back that angelic smile of hers. "Ya be good now, ya hear? I don't wanna hear 'bout you gettin' into trouble." Sebastian scolded, hiding his own tears of goodbye at the girl in front of him.

Oh mon, how was she able to do that? What a little guppy he was turning out to be, crying now! Ariel laughed lightly, nodding her head in affirmation.

"I will, Sebastian. Promise." Ariel said sincerely, with a small giggle still in her voice as she saw her old friend was trying to hide his tears. "Sebastian, are you crying?"

"Me? Cryin'? No…I just got…dis thing in me eyes…" Sebastian said, quickly wiping at his tears with the back of his claw.

Triton almost rolled his eyes again. "He's a soft-shell, dear. He will cry at almost anything."

Ariel bit back a laugh, although Eric beside her didn't bother to do so. She dug an elbow into his side, giving him a sidelong glance to stay quiet. The boy gave her a cheeky smile.

Sebastian sniffled. "I'm no soft-shell! I'm a respectable crab!"

This time, Triton did roll his eyes. How many times had he heard this old story of the crab being 'respectable' and not the type to do this or that? Honestly, as though the king didn't know him better.

"Take good care of Ariel now, son." Triton said, and he watched as Eric gave a quick nod.

Then the boy's eyes wandered towards Ariel herself, whose eyes were just starting to show signs of recognition of what was happening around her. Oh no, and she looked like she would start crying as well. The last thing Triton would do is nurse his daughter's tears while he wanted to break out into some himself.

"I'll see you soon, Ariel." Triton promised again, reaching up to gently lift up her chin, before removing his hand. "Come on, Sebastian."

The crab nodded, smiling one last time at Ariel, before he swam out further to where the king was going. It would be easier to swim that way. Without even looking back—because he knew he couldn't handle it—Triton ducked under the waves, along with Sebastian, and disappeared from view.

Ariel sniffled lightly, wiping away a stray tear from her eyes. She looked back up at Eric helplessly, and he grinned at her. He squeezed her hand gently.

"We should head back to the castle." He said, and he waited until the girl beside him had nodded in agreement before he took the lead back.

"Eric?" The sound of his name made him look up at her, blinking as to what she had to ask. "Are you…alright?" Ariel's wondered, as she finally felt the warm, dry sand beneath her new toes.

"Am I alright?" Eric repeated, making sure he understood correctly. Ariel nodded, and he laughed. "Of course I'm alright. I'm engaged to the most beautiful girl in the world, aren't I?"

Ariel laughed lightly. "What happened to you not being the best at all this romance stuff?"

"A guy can learn." Eric shrugged, smiling gently at her, before using his hand as shade his eyes against the sun and looking away. "Look, the castle isn't _too_ far away. And it's low-tide, so we can just cut straight through the sandbar and get to the steps."

"Good." Ariel yawned, suddenly feeling her exhaustion in full force. "I feel like sleeping for a week. What about you?"

"I'd say a nice nap sounds _really_ good right now." Eric laughed, still leading the way with their intertwined hands. Then he looked over at her warily, his laughter being replaced with a half-smile. "You know, at some point we're going to have to talk about everything that happened."

Ariel made a sound in the back of her throat, still reveling the fact that she _could_ talk. "At some point. Not now. I'm too worn-out."

Eric grinned tiredly, like a little boy. The relief in his smile spoke more wonders than he could articulate at this point. "I was _really_ hoping you'd say that, because I am too."


	6. Chapter 6: Not an Option

_**Well, hey guys. This is a particularly long chapter-12 pages! But there was a lot that needed to be said, so, meh, here it is. Also on a side-note, only two more weeks of class for me and then I'll be an official high school graduate! Hoorah! A bit odd to think that I've been writing FanFiction since freshmen year, but hey, that's life. Anyway, enough of my ramble. Enjoy the chapter and please **_REVIEW_**. **_

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The palace was empty. And quiet. Like, really quiet. A heavy mood was immediately noticeable upon entering through the doors, a mood that spoke of loss and pain. Ariel shuddered at the thought of it, tightening her grip on Eric's hand. She'd had enough brushes with those feelings today.

"I guess it's a slow day." Eric managed a feeble joke, his voice more of a mumble than anything at this point. Ariel managed a half-grin at his effort.

She'd been quiet the entire walk back, trying to focus on still keeping herself upright. Plus, her mind was a bit out of sorts, and she wasn't really keen on speaking when she was this tired. It had been Eric who had filled the silence between them with comments every now and then.

"_Watch out over here." _

"_It's so hot today."_

"_Careful, that step is slippery."_

She had to give him credit. She'd been able to go home the night before and sleep (if one could call it that) in her cozy bed, and he most certainly hadn't. Yet he was handling this tiring ordeal much better than she was. Perhaps she'd ask him how he did it soon. But she was in no rush. After all, she had the rest of her life.

The thought that she'd soon be a bride thrilled her entire body. She could feel it in her limbs, her fingers, even the very tip of her nose. She'd never been so…excited. Never in her wildest dreams would have pictured _this_ coming true.

"Here," Eric finally said, after standing around for about a minute, "Why don't I take you back to your room? I know you're—"

There was a crashing sound suddenly, and both teenagers shot their heads in the direction of a young maid who had just dropped a vase full of flowers. However, the young woman wasn't even paying attention to what she'd just done, which was odd in itself. No, instead she was looking at the two people little ways from her, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"P-Prince Eric?" She squeaked, a hand over her heart. Ariel shot a curious look up to the boy, wondering what all this was about.

Eric gave a shrug, and a hesitant half smile. "Um…hi, Olivia."

The maid balked at him, her shoulders starting to shake. "You're…you're not…you're still…"

Unexpectedly, the servant girl dashed out of the room. Eric's brows pulled together in confusion, his muddled mind not quite able to make out what the purpose of that had been. Ariel rested her forehead against his shoulder, her eyes shutting lightly.

"Shouldwego?" Her words were a jumbled mess.

Eric opened his mouth to respond, and then quickly snapped it shut. He cocked his head to the side, straining to hear something in the distance. As the sound came closer, he was able to ascertain that it was a voice—a hysterical woman's voice—yelling. The words that he was able to make out from the pounding of footsteps and general sounds of hysteria were "prince" and "not gone".

He sighed, and then managed a thin smile. "I don't think that'll be necessary."

No sooner did he finish speaking when the sound of doors being pushed hard and smashing against the wall created quite a cacophony. The noise made Ariel jump, and as she looked up and saw the hoard of people running towards them, she gripped Eric's hand tightly. After the insanity that was the night before, the girl wasn't sure if she could handle anymore chaos.

Leading the charge of people was, surprisingly, not a person. It was Eric's best friend (or at least, whom she assumed to be Eric's best friend). He was hairy, slobbery, and had the dopiest smile (if he could indeed smile). Ariel managed a tiny smile towards the dog.

As though in response, Max barked. Although inwardly Ariel felt her heart start to race because of the his barking, she tried to keep as calm as possible, knowing full well that he was about as harmless as plankton. His four legs reached the couple a good few seconds before anyone else, and then he_ launched_ himself straight at Eric.

The prince stumbled back two steps, and since Ariel had a death-like grip on him, she did as well. A mixture of polite tolerance, and sheer tiredness kept the girl from complaining about her arm nearly being yanked out of its socket. Besides, after all that had happened, she figured there were worse things in life.

When she looked over at Eric, his face lifted up in a grin while he struggled to keep the dog down, and laughing as he ruffled Max's overwhelming fur, she was managed another smile. No wonder Max was his best friend, she mused. He was so loyal and caring towards the boy.

"_Are you two alright?_

"_What happened last night? _

"_Was that really a _tail_ you had yesterday?_

"_What happened to your tail?_

"_Who really is Vanessa? _

"_What was that awful octopus that took her place? _

"_Where did that thing go?_

"_Is the country in danger?"_

Perhaps because of the distraction Max provided, or maybe because they were really just trying to keep their heads up at this point, the teenagers were nearly overwhelmed by a crowd of people.

Swarmed by seemingly every person within the castle, it was literally all they could do to hold onto one another. They were jostled, poked, prodded, and the questions did not stop, even though it was impossible to hear what that person was saying. It was impracticable to even try to look at one person, because everybody kept pushing each other out of the way to get their two cents in. Some people were even crying!

In the midst of all the craziness, Eric somehow managed to lope a strong arm around her waist. It wasn't exactly proper, but then, she wasn't complaining. Besides, it kept her from being elbowed or not-so-gently brushed past. Max barked excitedly, although even the poor dog was being pushed out of the way so that people could see Eric.

As though he was the only safe thing in the planet, the girl clutched onto him just as tightly as he had grabbed onto her. She felt him pull her body closer to his, but somehow, she understood that it was done in a protective manner. Well, good. She never wanted to let go of him anyway.

"If everyone would simply…!" A voice struggling to be heard over the disorderly atmosphere caught Ariel's attention. "If each person would please…!"

That polite, but drained tone of voice allowed some of the fog to disappear within the girl's mind. She recognized it as Grimsby's voice! It didn't seem to be doing much though. Every person shouting, talking, and doing Neptune knew what else drowned out the man's words. No one could possibly listen to him in this cacophony!

"Can every person please just…?"

"Alright, all of you: _quiet_!" A second voice cut off Grimsby's barely heard plea for silence.

This voice was much louder, not shouting, but somehow it was heard above all the noise. Almost immediately, everyone started to shush one another with a sense of urgency, and within moments, the hollering of people became soft whispers. Ariel wanted so badly to relax at the newfound sound of stillness, but she discovered her body tense.

"Erm...thank you, Carlotta." Grimsby's voice was now clear as a bell, and for the first time, it finally caused many people to look up in surprise. "Now, if everyone would please move…?"

There was something about how that question was phrased, as though it wasn't really a question, but a desperate hope. Ariel found it a bit nerve wracking, but she kept those thoughts to herself. Besides, there wasn't much of a platform for her to speak, considering the horde of people starting to shift themselves out of the way.

After what seemed like a decade, Grimsby managed to wiggle himself through. At first glance, his eyes connected with those of his young charge. They were weary, worried, wandering, but most of all, they were wonderfully open and _alive_.

And that meant Eric was still among the living.

A weight that had set upon the older gentleman the minute he'd seen the boy rowing out into that storm suddenly lifted off of him. His shoulders sagged slightly, grateful to be relieved of such a heavy load. His heart did leaps in his chest, probably caused by the constant strain on his blood pressure _by_ the prince, but still. After assuming the boy to be dead, it was an immense joy to find him actually _alive_.

"This is…I can't…" Choking with emotion, the older man clapped Eric on the back, trying to convey his meaning. "I'm glad you're alright, m'boy."

While the slap on his back hadn't been that hard (honestly, it was the old _beanpole_ who did it), in his current state Eric had to fight to keep himself still standing after it. As it was the momentum carried through from him into Ariel. She nearly collapsed as she felt the energy travel through her worn body; it was only Eric's arm around her waist that kept her standing.

Noticing this, Grimsby felt his eyes fly open in surprise at the very sight of _Ariel_. The last he'd seen of her was when she'd turned into a…a…well, some type of fish creature! Then she'd been taken _overboard_ by that other creature that used to be Vanessa…well, he had believed that she hadn't lasted more than an hour, much less the night.

Yet, she was still here in front of him, and thankfully on two legs. Her face was shining, though her eyes were drooping and the slight circles under her eyes proved her worn points. Somehow, though, she managed to still look radiant. And, she was wearing such a dress that was…Grimsby wasn't a follower of women's fashions, but he was _sure_ that this particular style must be considered unique, if not downright nice.

He cleared his throat, trying to get back on track. "I'm glad you're _both_ alright."

Both teenagers managed weak smiles towards the man's meaningful words. There was no denying that he had clearly had a rough night as well. After all, instead of looking immaculate, he just looked strung out and _old_.

"Thanks, Grim." Eric managed, shooting a half smile at his advisor. Then he sighed, his body slumping in the process. "Look, can we just—?"

"Eric!" The voice that had caused the near-silence cried out, pretty near to where the prince stood. Ariel looked up at him questioningly, but he only smiled, his eyes roaming the spot where the voice had come from.

"Carlotta," He said warmly, barely getting the words out of his mouth before a pair of arms were thrown around him in a hug. He gave a good natured laugh, and gently patted the woman's back.

Ariel's eyes finally lit up, putting two and two together. She'd realized quickly on that Carlotta was the palace housekeeper. More than that, however, it seemed like the woman was also a mother figure in Eric's life. It only made sense that she'd be the one who quiet everyone and then greet him as though she'd thought he was dead (which, frankly from the looks and whispers, Ariel assumed everyone had thought they were).

Finally, the woman released the boy from his hug. However, her work didn't seem to be finished, as she looked him up and down, finally setting on a frown. Her eyes were watery, probably relieved tears. She didn't appear to be in the crying type mood though, with her face clouding over.

"Young man, just what were you thinking?" She started to admonish him, and Eric managed a sheepish smile.

"I was just—"

"Oh dear," Carlotta gasped, grasping his face in her hands and effectively cutting him off. "Just look at that bruise! That's going to turn black and blue; and right on your handsome face!"

Eric managed to wriggle his face away from the caring woman's hands. "I'm really—"

"And don't you _dare_ tell me that's your nice pants you've torn up!" She continued to rebuke, _tsking_ at the sight of his trousers nearly shredded.

It was at this point that Carlotta started to delve into a reproach. Eric, all but given up, looked over at Grimsby for help. Unfortunately, the older man looked keenly amused as he tried to hold back a satisfactory grin. No other servant dared to intervene either, knowing full well that Carlotta had gone into mother-bear mode. Even his sheepdog, although whining at being pushed away from his master, kept it at a minimum. It seemed like he was on his own this time.

Suddenly a thought struck him. He wasn't _entirely_ on his own. He was still had Ariel, carefully holding her close to him in case she collapsed. Perhaps if he could somehow bring the subject of her up, he might be able to avoid the rest of this reprimand. It seemed like in their joy of him returning, most people weren't really focusing on her.

"…most irresponsible, reckless, idiotic—"

Eric coughed purposely, drawing the housekeeper's attention away from her chiding and onto him. "I know I deserve much more of a scolding, but I don't think Ariel is going to be able to stay awake much longer…"

Carlotta blinked in confusion, the 'hmph' she'd had dying out on her lips before it even went out. Her eyes shifted to the left automatically, and she found, to her amazement, the mute girl half-dozed. Despite the slight bags under her eyes, and her slouching body frame, the child looked radiant as ever in a _gorgeous_ gown that appeared other-worldly.

"Oh, dear!" She sympathized immediately, switching her focus from Eric's stupidity to the girl's evident tiredness. "I didn't even _see_…oh, the poor child."

Ariel flickered her eyes upwards, finding that she was now the center of attention. Her lips separated to say something, but she found that as her mind was a mess, she wasn't able to form any words. Instead, she rubbed at her bare arms, battling every blink of her eyes so that she didn't start to snooze.

"Alright," Carlotta started decisively, nodding to herself. "Meredith, go and draw a hot bath for the girl and set aside some clothes. We need to get her into bed as soon as possible."

There was a sudden scurrying of someone's footsteps; Carlotta didn't look back to see if her orders were being followed. She worriedly pushed back some tendrils of the girl's half-frizzed hair, trying to get a better view of the child's face. It was a bit difficult, considering Ariel's head had fallen down, too sleepy to keep itself up and alert apparently.

The housekeeper sighed, shaking her head. Whatever the girl had gone through, it seemed to have drained her energy completely. "Come on dear, we're going to get you taken care of."

"Okay, you take care of her, and in the meantime I'll try to explain everything that happened." Eric said resolutely, trying to dislodge his arm from around Ariel. The second she found his arm abandoning her, she clutched onto him twice as hard.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost didn't catch himself swaying slightly. There were small gasps from the servants that hadn't yet dispersed, and there were soft mumbles of argument to the boy's words. After all, no one wanted a sick prince.

Grimsby cleared his throat worriedly, and the attention suddenly shifted to him. "Actually Eric, I think you would benefit from some rest as well."

"I'm fine, Grim," Eric claimed, trying hard to stand up straighter. "Really, I feel alright. It's Ariel that needs to lie down for a bit."

At the sound of her name, Ariel flitted her half-closed eyes upwards towards the boy who still had a strong arm around her waist. She hadn't really been paying attention to this conversation, but from the general murmurs of disapproval coming from everyone else, she got the gist of it. Her lips parted slightly to tell him everything that was running through her head, but brain wasn't finding the right words to connect to her mouth. So instead, she was forced to settle for a pathetic frown.

Thankfully, there was always someone else to elaborate on what she was thinking.

"Eric, you look positively _awful_." Carlotta intervened, a worried look settling upon her features.

Wearily, Eric shook his head, mumbling quietly. "I'm okay."

"No you're not, dear." Carlotta said gently, her concern shifting back to the child she'd known since his infancy. "There's already a hot bath with _your _name on it, and then you're going straight to bed. And I don't want to hear another word about this!"

Figuring finally that Carlotta, Grim, his staff, his dog, and even _Ariel _were against him on this one, Eric sighed and accepted his defeat. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Carlotta smiled, satisfaction ebbing into her still apprehensive voice. She put her focus back onto Ariel, making sure in the process that the girl was still, in fact, conscious. "Come on now sweetie, we'll get you feeling better soon."

The housekeeper's words were gentle and caring. It like she was trying to coax the girl into thinking that she needed all of this. Ariel almost felt herself follow the woman's words and simply go along.

Almost.

Because going along meant leaving behind Eric.

And after all the fighting and heartbreak she'd had to do to get him, she wasn't about to let him slip through her fingers again.

"Ariel, you have to let go." Eric's kind, tired voice finally broke the mermaid from her thoughts. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was literally latched onto his arm that had been trying to push her towards Carlotta.

She locked eyes with his, and slowly, shook her head. Her features were unaccustomedly serious, making her appear older, much more mature. For everyone watching this play out, there seemed to have been alarming change in the girl, one that not everyone was comfortable with.

This included Eric.

"Come on," He was starting to sound how she felt, Ariel noted to herself as he spoke. "Just let go of me."

"No."

The word flew out of her mouth before she had the chance to even rationalize everything behind it. Eric stiffened under her sober turn, not used to hearing her lighthearted voice take on such an edge. Everyone else gasped; the soft murmurs turned to loud, anxious whispers

Of course they would be so surprised, Ariel thought to herself. Everyone had assumed she was mute, and then magically last night, it had been returned to her. They had probably thought they'd misheard, perhaps it had all been in their imaginations that the woman who had been seconds away from marrying their prince was in reality a sea witch. Her still being here, and able to speak, must have made it seem like what they thought hadn't happened…actually _did_.

"Ariel," He tried reasoning, his voice quiet, straining, and breaking her out of her thoughts. He kept his gaze locked on hers, his eyes trying to decipher what was going on in her head. "You can't hang on forever."

"I have to." She said fiercely, turning slightly to be face to face with him. "I'm not losing you again."

All she could hear was her heartbeat in her ears. She watched as he sucked in a breath. Her words clearly had a deep meaning on him.

"You won't lose me." Eric stated, struggling to keep his voice from shaking. There was an uncertain ring to his words, as though he doubted himself.

It was that uncertain ring that Ariel clung to. She shook her head once more, her shoulders sagging. "We don't know that."

She was right, Eric knew. They couldn't be sure of anything at this point. It just seemed like every time they let go, something awful happened. Could they take another risk after what they'd been through? There was only so much of tempting fate two people could do. How could he in good conscience let go of the girl who willingly pitted herself against King Triton and Vanessa, who turned out to be an evil sea-witch, for just the chance to have him love her?

Just look at her though, his mind suddenly started to reason. His eyes broke away from hers and scanned her body from top to bottom. Her feet were caked with dry sand (but then, so were his), her dress most assuredly covered up bruises from the night previous (as did his clothes), and her features just looked so drawn, so tired (like he felt). There was more too it then that though; she looked…well, terrified.

To her, he realized, this must seem like something out of a dream. At any moment she could wake up and realize that she hadn't saved him from drowning, that she had let go, and none of this was real. She needed someone to tell her that it would be alright, that she was just stressed…and at the moment, being that he was in the same boat physically as her, that person wasn't him.

The thought of it was rather painful.

But he would rather fight ten thousand sea-witches then seeing her brought to such a state.

"Don't be scared." He finally managed to say, his voice gentler and kinder than before. She gave a reflexive flinch, remembering Flotsam and Jetsam saying the same things, and he cringed slightly, knowing right away that those hadn't been the right words.

Eric sighed for the goodness knew how many times at this point, and pushed back his incredibly unkempt hair. He wasn't sure what he was going to say. He just knew that he only had one chance to do it before Carlotta managed to pry the girl off him and dragged her to bed.

Already from the corner of his eye he could see the housekeeper growing more anxious, probably noting how the girl was looking worse and worse. Grimsby, on the other hand, seemed rather interested in this private-in-public conversation.

"We're not going to lose each other, Ariel." He said at last, his voice confident and quiet in his belief. "I won't let that happen. Not again. Never again."

She watched him carefully, doubt lingering in her eyes. He looked fiercely determined though, like a warrior going off to battle. It was scary and understandable at the same time.

"You promise?" She asked softly, so that only he could hear. Her mind was not up to the task of berating her for acting like a child. She just wanted some confirmation that when she woke up in the morning, he would still be there.

"I promise. I swear." He returned sensitively, making sure that she saw the seriousness behind his eyes. Then he managed a lopsided half smile and bowed his head slightly. "Sailor's honor, princess."

Ariel felt her shoulders sag at his words, and the faintest smile lifted up at the corners of her lips. Her eyes were still uneasy, but Eric's calming features did help. With a sigh, she wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight hug.

"I love you." She murmured, pressing her lips against his for the brief moment before returning to her hug. Eric blinked, smiled tiredly, and nodded.

"Yeah," His voice sounded just as done in as hers, "I love you too."

After three or four more seconds, Eric gently started to unwind her tight arms from around him. She put up little protest this time, letting him pull her away. He then pushed her in the direction of Carlotta, who, although looking stunned, caught the girl with ease.

The housekeeper let her eyes flicker between both teenagers, silently asking a thousand questions. Eric gave a sheepish shrug in reply. The woman shook her head, but smiled all the same, before looking back up at the boy.

"Clean yourself up dear, and then straight into bed." Carlotta ordered, directing him like a soldier in the army. Although he was a Prince and she was a housekeeper, it was clear that, at least in terms of his well being, she was always in charge.

"Yes, ma'am." Eric mumbled with a sigh, as though this was a chore for him to do. With a final look towards Ariel, he turned on his heel and went off in the direction of his own room, with Max pleasantly trailing behind him.

"Well then," Grimsby finally said, watching his young charge walk off. The old man straightened his shoulders seriously, though the relief on his face showed clearly still. "I do believe I should start preparing some papers for when he decides to wake up."

"That might be best." Carlotta agreed, although only half heartedly because she was still trying to zone in on Ariel.

Grimsby nodded at the woman's confirmation, and then his eyes flickered over to Ariel. He smiled at the girl, albeit hesitantly, before bowing his head in her direction and walking off as well. He had some things to sort out, some questions to ask, before Eric awoke and started to explain. And the gentleman knew the first place to go if he wanted some answers before hand; the fishermen's wharf.

"You'll feel better in no time, don't you fret, hon." Carlotta mumbled to herself, giving the child one last appraising look before turning in the opposite direction.

Instead of a cleared out entrance hall, however, she found that everyone was still there. Their voices had risen in pitch now, and although the housekeeper had been ignoring them, the gossip she was starting to catch wasn't exactly the kindest. Add to that the strange looks most of them were starting to shoot the poor dear…

"What are you all still doing, standing around?" Carlotta demanded, and suddenly, the staff went very, very quiet. "Off with all of you; you still have to work! Go on, get moving!"

From the seriousness of her tone and face, the gaggle of servants seemed to understand that she was not kidding. That in itself was not exactly ideal. Within moments of her scolding, and without many of the usual complaints, the entrance hall emptied out. People returned to their jobs quickly, deciding it was better to do so while they still had one.

At last, when the only two people left were the kindly housekeeper and the former mermaid, Carlotta deemed it a job well done. Then, with a few coaxing words, she managed to get the girl moving towards her long awaited hot bath.


	7. Chapter 7: A Morning of Change

**So, here we are again my lovely readers. Life has been pretty hectic around here! Between preparing (and freaking out) for college, I've been crazy busy this summer. Anyway, the reason it took so long to update was that I'm a crazy perfectionist, and you guys deserve a great chapter. I had to add a lot of stuff to this chapter to make it awesome, so please, don't forget to review. Reviews make happy authors, and happy authors update sooner!**

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through a crack in the curtains and onto Ariel's face. Drowsily, the girl pulled her arm so that it covered her eyes, in an attempt to block out the invading sun. She curled deeper into her soft bed, letting her body get a few more relaxing minutes, before Attina would come and shake her awake.

Since most of her other senses were currently snoozing, her ears were particularly perceptive today. She could hear the gentle swells of waves crashing upon the shore, and then the tide slowly sinking back into the water so the process could repeat itself. It was a calming sound, one that Ariel didn't mind having to finally open her eyes to.

Still half asleep, the girl found that her vision was focusing on her weirdly shaped nightstand, as though trying to adjust itself. The fog slowly cleared from her mind, and her first thoughts were those of the new oddities that her room had somehow acquired during the night. Some of them looked like human items.

Suddenly, the girl's eyes flew open. Human things! She had left _human_ things lying around her room! Oh, if her father saw…or worse, _Attina_, she'd be skinned alive! She had to hide everything away, before anyone came in and threw her to the sharks!

Already, a plan of action was starting to form in Ariel's mind. Her heart racing, she tried to calm herself by saying that she would quickly throw her human treasures in unnoticeable places in her room, and then, after a quick breakfast, she'd somehow manage to sneak it all out and back to her grotto. It wouldn't be easy, but it was the only option she had at this point.

Determined, the redheaded teenager managed to push herself up to a sitting position. She yawned and blinked the tiredness out of her eyes, trying hard to focus on her mental sketch of what she had to do. However, when the girl's vision came back into focus, and she took in her room, she felt…alarmed.

"This isn't my room." Ariel finally whispered out loud, her eyes shuffling back and forth in worry. "This doesn't even look like _home_."

A cold sweat seized her body. Somehow, she had woken up in a strange place, a definite no-no when it came to being a princess. Gulping, the girl quickly started to move her head, left to right, right to left, horror overtaking her body when she realized that she did not recognize any of this.

In the midst of her near panic-attack, Ariel's eyes flashed across something rather attention-grabbing. It appeared to be a soft yellow looking thing. A soft-yellow human thing…? Instinctively, she turned her head towards it, shocked to see that whatever_ it_ may be was on _her_.

"What in the…" Her eyes trailed the thing covering her arms to across her body and then down to where the sheets of the bed covered the rest of her.

Very deliberately, the girl grabbed a corner of the thick covers. It even _felt_ different from her light bed blanket back home. Suddenly much less unsure and much more determined to find out what she was swathed in, the girl pushed the bedspread off of her in one fluid motion.

Immediately, her eyes were drawn to the two feet plainly sticking out.

"Gah!" Was all Ariel managed to cry out in surprise. With most of her body still trying to wake up, she wasn't able to hold on as well as she should have been, and she literally fell off the bed.

"Oomph! Ow…" The teenager groaned as her body hit the floor with a soft thud. That would most definitely leave a bruise. Idly, the teen wondered how she'd explain to Eric why she was now sporting a large black and blue.

Eric! The last time she'd seen him, he'd been so exhausted, so worn-out. Did he finally manage to get some sleep? Perhaps checked out by a healer? Was he still in bed? Was he okay?

Worry gnawed at her stomach (or perhaps that was hunger), and she grimaced to herself. She had to find out if he was doing alright or not! What was the point in being a human if Eric was hurt?

"I've got to go find him!" Fiercely resolved, Ariel jumped off of the floor, pushing her thick strands out of her way. She ran to the door, and had just placed her hand on the doorknob when suddenly the thing _flew_ open.

"Oh!" Was all the girl was able to manage, stumbling back a few steps in shock.

"Heaven's child!"

A familiar voice was the only thing Ariel was able to ascertain, considering she was still trying to keep from falling. Just as the girl found her equilibrium, she felt herself literally being marched back to where she had started out. Then she was gently, but firmly, pushed down to the bed.

In somewhat of a confused dazed, she allowed all this to happen without question. Her mind raced, thoughts coming too fast for the rest of her to keep up. She blinked, trying to push away the blankness of her stare, but realizing quickly that it was a fruitless task. Finally, it was a cold, odd tasting thing inserted into her mouth that made her snap out of this state.

"…honestly, trying to walk about when you can't even balance on your feet!" A woman was standing in front of the teen, her features pulled tight with worry, despite her scolding tone. "And let's not even _begin_ to mention where on _Earth_ you were heading to, dressed only in a nightgown, and looking like you had just rolled out of—"

"Carwlotta?" Ariel asked softly, almost dumbstruck. She looked up at the woman with huge eyes, a dozen inquiries within them, but only one on her lips.

The housekeeper blinked in surprise, taken aback at the girl's sudden question. Or perhaps, to be fair, she was still surprised that the girl could _talk_. Despite it all, however, the woman pushed back her own emotions and focused solely on the teenager. Whether the girl was a mute, mermaid, human, princess, or not, she made Eric happy, which meant that Carlotta would go to the ends of the earth so that the child was properly cared for.

"Mhm, yes, dear." She verified for the girl, her brown eyes tinged with a sense of relief. After all that had happened, it was rather calming knowing that the girl was alright.

Ariel opened her lips to ask another question, but Carlotta quickly cut her off with an admonishing look. "Now, don't you try to talk when the thermometer is in your mouth."

Ariel frowned, her eyebrows pulling together. "But—"

"Hush," Carlotta stopped the teen in her tracks, frowning herself at the girl. "If you keep talking, you'll get a completely off temperature, and goodness knows how much Eric is already worrying!"

Instead of questioning what a thermometer might be, or how it was taking her temperature, Ariel picked out the most important part of that sentence. It was, of course, the fact that Eric was in it. Even just hearing his name made her heart rate spike to an absurd degree.

"Eriwc?" She questioned again, this time with a high alertness in her voice. "Is he—I meawn, did he—"

"_Shush_," Carlotta stressed the word, making sure that the girl understood her point. "Hon, you have less than a minute to go with the thermometer; stay quiet for now, and _then_ you can ask all the questions you want."

Ariel pouted in response, but finally seeing the logic in Carlotta's words, stayed silent. Impatiently, she crossed her arms over her chest and started to tap her finger, over and over. After what seemed like a century and a half, she heard the housekeeper give a chuckle at her actions, before removing the _thermometer_ from out of her mouth. She wasted no time in quickly putting forward her inquiries.

"Is Eric alright?" She asked breathlessly, her heart pounding in her chest at just the idea that he may not be. The last images she had of him weren't exactly princely looking.

"Oh, he's fine." Carlotta brushed off, lifting the thermometer into the air for better lighting. "A bit bruised, but fine enough. Actually, he's been asking the same question about you."

Surprised, all Ariel was able to squeak out was a pathetic, "Me?"

"Mhm-hm, he hasn't stopped worrying about you since he woke up. It's actually rather sweet. I've never seen him care about someone so much." Smiling slightly, Carlotta looked over at the girl, noticing the astonished look she hadn't bothered to hold back.

"Worrying about me?" Ariel questioned, taken aback. "Why would he be worried about _me_? I was worried about _him_!"

"After all you've been through, it isn't really that farfetched for him to be concerned, dear. Everyone was." Carlotta set aside the thermometer on the nightstand, having long since read it.

"All I've been through?" Ariel questioned, trying to piece together all these parts at once. Realization caused her eyes grew wide and her lips to whisper a soft, "I'm human."

"Yes, hon." Carlotta confirmed, taking the girl's hand in her own and squeezing it. "Yes, you are."

The squeal of ecstasy that erupted from the princess's throat would have made the even hardest heart melt. She collapsed onto her back, laughing like a madwoman. She lifted a foot in the air, and wiggled her toes, which made her descend into another peal of breathless laughter.

"I have legs!" She cried out, the giddy smile on her face a testament to her happiness. "_Legs_! I have legs, and—oh, what are they called again?—feet! _Two_ feet!"

Just as she descended into another peal of laughter, Ariel sat up. A rather surprised thought took hold of her. For a moment, her brows pulled together in thought, and then slow smile spread across her face once more.

"I can go _dancing_!" She said, almost incredulous at the very notion. "Oh! I can run, I can spend all _day_ in the sun, and I can—I can go on a thousand adventures! I can explore _everything_, forever!"

More than excited at the prospect of being able to discover the secrets of her new world, Ariel jumped up, giggling and twirling on her new feet. She remembered the beautiful dancing girl she had once seen on a secret trip to the surface. The girl had been able to do such elegant movements, dressed in all pink and spinning on her toes. That's who Ariel wanted to be with her new legs, a graceful, gorgeous dancing girl.

Unfortunately, gravity had other plans.

"Whoa!" Still a bit unstable, Ariel had neglected to figure out _how _to stop spinning.

Her feet stumbled, tripping over one another in an awkward way. Unlike the poised dancer she so admired, the princess found herself suddenly out of control, and for the second time that day, she said hello to the floor. With her face.

"Oww…" The teen whined in pain, her limbs spread out in every which direction. Giving a groan, she flipped onto her back, at which time her spine decided to tell her that the floor was not a comfortable place to be.

"Oh, dear." Carlotta's face swam into view, with the woman literally leaning over her. The housekeeper looked rather amused, although there were flints of worry in her face. "Are you okay?"

Ariel gave a heavy sigh, wincing slightly as she sat up. She didn't _feel _anything broken, so that was a plus. "I'm…fine."

"Alright then, up with you." Carlotta gave a good-natured laugh at the poor girl's expense, shaking her head at the child's dramatics. "The floor is no place for a young lady."

Ariel nodded obediently, hoping for anything to be better as she got to her feet. "Okay, okay."

The second she was standing up again, Carlotta appraised her silently, making sure the only thing injured was the girl's pride. When she came to the conclusion that Ariel seemed to be alright, she marched the girl straight back to her bed, once again making her sit down.

"Hm…it looks like that spill might get you a bit of a bruise, dear. That was certainly quick…" The housekeeper tilted the girl's face back with a frown, inspecting the slowly yellowing spot on Ariel's forehead.

"Oh, that's not from now." The girl replied, sheepishly adding, "I kind of fell out of the bed earlier."

"I suppose that wasn't in your list of things to do forever, was it?" Carlotta wondered aloud, a hint of amusement behind her murmuring voice.

"Not really." Ariel made a face, which made the housekeeper laugh. "Falling on land _hurts_, a lot more than it does back at home."

"Maybe your body is still adjusting." The housekeeper suggested absently, frowning at a particularly awful looking bruise right on the girl's hairline. "After all, it's a big shock to go from mermaid to human."

"I guess." Ariel acknowledged ruefully, wincing slightly as Carlotta pressed her thumb against a sore point on her forehead. Then, as the woman's words rang back in her mind, she pulled herself away from the housekeeper's hands, gawking slightly.

"Wait—you know I'm a mermaid?!"

"I think 'was a mermaid' is a better way to phrase that, hon." The woman laughed, despite Ariel's shocked look. "And don't look so surprised; it's common knowledge."

"But…_how_?"

"Dear, you were on the wedding barge and you had a tail." Carlotta deadpanned in an obvious tone of voice, as though the girl should have known.

"I did?" Ariel questioned, trying to wrap her fast-paced mind around the idea. A memory appeared before her eyes, and she gasped softly. "That's right. The sun was setting, and we were just about to kiss…and then…"

She gave a horrified shudder at the memory. There were no words to describe the way her bones had disappeared, how her legs had fused, and the pain that accompanied turning back into a mermaid. Then, that look of confusion on Eric's face, his hands thrown up in the question she was too mortified to answer.

"Now, there's no use focusing on what's already happened." Carlotta said soothingly, noticing how Ariel's face had darkened. "Put your mind to what _will _happen, dear. Like," here the housekeeper's lips curled into a rather mischievous smile, "your upcoming wedding."

"Wedding?" Ariel wondered again, hitting another blank wall in her mind. Then her eyes went colossal. "Oh, Neptune! I'm _engaged_! I'm going to…I'm going to get married! To _Eric_!"

Her unbelievable laugh, and squeals of delight flooded the room once more. Only this time, they did not stay nearly as long. That was because of a rather familiar, if not worrying, feeling started to creep up on the girl. She looked up at Carlotta with a wide fish-in-a-net look.

"I don't know the first thing about getting married." Ariel confessed, although this was more to herself than to the woman. "I don't know anything about this _country_. I've never even had a boyfriend! What do I — how do I even — I can't get _married_!"

As the girl continued on her anxiety-riddled ramble, Carlotta tidied up the room. Although it wasn't a particularly messy space, the woman did it so the girl could process her thoughts. The teenager would _never_ listen to someone telling her that yes, she could plan a wedding, or that if she spun around too hard she'd crash into a wall. These were things the girl had to learn in her own way, on her own time. All that the housekeeper could hope was that the child didn't hurt herself _too_ badly in the process.

"Carlotta?" Ariel asked, finally breaking off from her self-deprecation. She lifted a nail to her mouth and started to chew on it.

"Yes, dear?" The housekeeper looked up, and silently noted the girl's look of apprehension.

"I can't do this. I've never been one of those girls who can," here the teen fluttered her hands nervously, "do_ this _sort of stuff. I've just never been talented enough."

Ariel sighed, lowering her gaze to her new feet. There were girls like Adella, who had been planning their weddings since they could speak. Those girls could touch a sea-urchin and it would turn into a tiara. Then there were the inadequate girls like the redheaded teen, who couldn't even remember major social events. As these feelings of hopelessness ran through her, the girl was suddenly taken by surprise when the housekeeper lifted up her chin.

"Hon, the only person whose doubting what you're capable of is _you_." Carlotta's voice was kind, but there was a definite undertone of inflexibility behind it. "Now, stop trying to put yourself down, and stop focusing on what's passed. Just keep moving forward, and everything will be fine."

"How do you know it'll turn out alright?" Ariel asked, still chewing worriedly on her pinky nail.

Carlotta laughed at the teen's innocence. "Honey, you're not the first bride to worry about her wedding, and I doubt you'll be the last. Trust me, dear, it _will _be okay."

"Alright. Okay." Ariel nodded, her lump of nerves still not completely dissolved, but she realized that going on about this was just making her feel worse. She peeked up at Carlotta, ready for a subject change. "So…Eric's told everyone we're engaged?"

Here the housekeeper's rather mischievous, almost smug smile returned. "Actually, I believe only Grimsby knows."

"But then how did you find out?" Confusion took over Ariel's features now, and not just because of this situation.

"Oh, I managed to get it out of the silly boy in a minute." Carlotta answered with a casual wave of her hand, rolling her eyes, although she did so with a certain sense of fondness. "He actually thought he could fool me, imagine, as though I _haven't_ known him long enough to tell when he's trying to hide something."

Ariel giggled at the thought of it. "So why hasn't he told anyone that we're going to be married?"

"If I'm not mistaken, I think he _did_ say something about wanting to announce it with you, sweetie." Carlotta offered, the best she could at this point. Ariel nodded.

She wasn't exactly sure how to feel about Eric not telling anyone yet. Half of her was ecstatic that he was waiting for her to officially announce it. The other half of her was worrying about his possible ulterior motives for doing so. It was an odd place to be at.

"Did he say anything else? About us, I mean." Ariel bit her lip, feeling the same torn feeling.

"Hm…well," Carlotta started, pursing out her lips in the process. "He did try explain what happened with that Vanessa — or rather, Ursula, creature."

"You mean, he already _told _everyone about what happened?"

"He couldn't wait for whenever you woke up, sweetie. He _had_ to say something." The housekeeper's voice was a gentle reminder that Eric was a prince, and as such, things were expected of him. Like an explanation after all that craziness.

"Oh." Ariel managed, just a tad bit let down she hadn't been there to tell it as well, like she would the engagement. "I guess that makes sense."

Sensing the girl's disappointment, Carlotta felt almost obligated to help the girl out. "He was only able to say what he knew for sure, dear, which wasn't much. I think he's just waiting to talk to you about it all."

"Oh, I completely forgot!" Ariel muttered, smacking her hand against her forehead. "We agreed to talk about what happened _later_! I was kind of worn-out after all that, and _he _wasn't much better.

Carlotta frowned for a second time, looking over at the teen carefully. "Hon, you weren't just a little under the weather. The doctor looked over you, and he said you were suffering from severe exhaustion."

"_Severe_?" Ariel asked uncertainly, confusion overtaking her features. Mentally, she translated 'doctor' to 'healer', something she had learned quickly when she had first come to land. "I mean, I was tired, but _exhausted_?"

The housekeeper sighed, shaking her head at the girl's complete understatement. "You were _barely_ standing. Not to mention, you've been fast asleep for the past two days."

"I have?" Ariel's forehead wrinkled in consternation, this new piece of information definitely throwing her off track. "Maybe I was a little exhausted…"

"A little?" Carlotta repeated, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. Ariel shrugged sheepishly under the woman's gaze.

"Okay, maybe a lot," the teenager corrected quickly, which Carlotta seemed to agree with wholeheartedly.

"That's more like it," the woman said aloud, although it was mostly to herself. "Well, you're not running a temperature, which is one good thing."

"That means I can go see Eric, right? I can go tell him to stop worrying?" Anxiously, Ariel jumped back up to her two feet, ready to go see the boy. However, still unused to her two feet, and perhaps a bit out of it, she swayed slightly.

Carlotta, realizing this quickly with wide eyes, once again firmly pushed the girl back down to a sitting position. "I think you'd be better off eating first, hon, and then we'll go from there. I'll have a tray brought up here."

"I need to see Eric, though. I have to tell him that I'm alright, and he should stop worrying!" Ariel's unhappy face morphed into one of excitement, another idea bouncing across her mind. "Oh! And I need to show him my legs! I need to show him how great they are!"

Carlotta's face lost all color, faster than a person could say watermelon-pickle-juice. Ariel looked at her innocently, obviously not understanding that what she wanted to do was highly inappropriate. The woman gave a heavy sigh, dragging a hand across her face. Once the girl was married, whatever she did with Eric (in private, at least) was her own business. Until then…it was going to be a long couple of weeks.

"You can _not _go around showing people, especially _men_, your legs. _Or_ run around in your nightgown. It's not…" she searched for a word here, trying to find one that wouldn't suggest too much, but would still get the meaning across, "It's just not proper, dear."

"Oh. Alright, I won't." For a moment, Ariel debated whether or not she should ask Carlotta why she couldn't, before she shrugged it off. She'd ask her fiancée later on. "But I can still go tell Eric to stop worrying, right? I _need _to!"

"I know want to, hon," Carlotta sighed, trying to be as gentle with this as possible. "But it won't do any good for you to go halfway down the hall and collapse, now would it?"

"I won't collapse." Ariel mumbled, but she realized that she was in a losing battle. The housekeeper had a point, an excellent one at that, and she just sounded like a little girl trying to fight it.

"Not if you eat first you won't." Carlotta replied confidently, smoothing back a lock of the girl's rather wild red hair. "Now, you stay here, and I'll grab you some lunch."

Sighing heavily, Ariel accepted defeat and nodded, albeit with a sour look. "Okay."

Noticing the girl's lack of enthusiasm, Carlotta felt herself start to smile. "And, I'll reassure that Eric you're alright. How does that sound?"

Ariel looked up, now grinning from ear to ear with a dazzling smile. "It sounds great


End file.
